Washington, D.C. – Congressman G. K. Butterfield commended yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling against President Bush’s military tribunals for detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
“It’s a forceful reminder to President Bush that he can’t just invent his own rules,” Butterfield said. “Trying to operate outside the rule of law tarnishes our prestige around the world and undermines the checks and balances of American democracy. It’s a clear victory for the rule of law.”
Butterfield said that Justice Anthony Kennedy captured the key principle involved in the ruling, writing that “respect for laws” duly passed by Congress and signed into law by the president is particularly necessary in times of crisis, and that “the Constitution is best preserved by reliance on standards tested over time and insulated from the pressures of the moment.”
Butterfield, a former North Carolina State Supreme Court Justice, said that the 5 to 3 decision is an important step toward ensuring that the war on terror moves forward on a solid legal basis.
Butterfield said that the ruling does not mean any of the 450 detainees at Guantanamo will be set free. He said that under the ruling, the Bush Administration can proceed with cases under current law, using standard military courts-martial, or it can come to Congress for specific authorization to deviate from those rules.
“Hopefully this will result in Congress putting forward a set of clear and precise rules for detainees’ trials to operate under,” Butterfield said.
Butterfield toured the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay in June 2005, and he spoke out at that about his concerns with the Bush Administration’s failure to abide by the protocols established in the Geneva Conventions.