WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected for the third time President Bush's policy of holding foreign prisoners under exclusive control of the military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ruling that the men have a right to seek their freedom before a federal judge.
The justices said the Constitution from the beginning enshrined the "privilege of habeas corpus" -- or the right to go before a judge -- as one of the safeguards of liberty. And that right extends even to foreigners captured in the war on terrorism, the high court said, particularly when they have been held for as long as six years without charges.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the court majority: "The detainees in these cases are entitled to a prompt habeas corpus hearing. . . . Within the Constitution's separation-of-powers structure, few exercises of judicial power are as legitimate or as necessary as the responsibility to hear challenges to the authority of the executive to imprison a person."
The court was narrowly split, 5 to 4. The dissenters accused the majority of meddling in a wartime matter better left to the president and the military.
The decision "will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in a dissent.
President Bush said he would abide by the decision but added: "It was a deeply divided court, and I strongly agree with those who dissented."
About 270 men are still held at Guantanamo. Fewer than 20 are now facing trial before a military commission, and about 60 are in the pipeline.
Thursday's ruling dealt only with the government's power to detain prisoners indefinitely. And though the detainees won a major victory, the ruling does not necessarily mean that many or most of them will go free. The court also left several issues unresolved, making it likely that the controversy will continue into the next presidential administration.
Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic candidate for president, praised the ruling: "This is an important step toward reestablishing our credibility as a nation committed to the rule of law and rejecting a false choice between fighting terrorism and respecting habeas corpus." He said the court had rejected Bush's "attempt to create a legal black hole at Guantanamo."
Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP candidate, said that he had not had a chance to read the opinion but that he questioned its reasoning. "These are unlawful combatants. They are not American citizens," he said. He added, however, that he favored closing the prison at Guantanamo.
