(no subject)

[novapsyche]

In an interview Friday with McClatchy Newspapers, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he doesn't take the court's ruling to mean that those already being held would be off the hook simply because their rights were found to have been violated.

--Supreme Court ruling may ripple through other Bush policies, emphasis mine

Consider the implications of that.

This is the same reasoning that went into the recent 4th Amendment ruling. "Just because we didn't play by the rules [that is, follow the law] doesn't mean that the evidence we have against the bad guys shouldn't come into play."

Technical irregularities get people off the hook in our legal system all the time. The point is that the people who enforce the rule of law must be held to the rule of law.

At the very least, those being held without trial for so long deserve some sort of redress. I think they will get their day of reckoning.

Comments

[brendand.livejournal.com]

Hopefully in 2007 when Dems have control of congress.

[xterminal.livejournal.com]

While it's obviously not the case here, it is worth noting that not all "rights" are tied to laws, and so there's no inherent contradiction in that statement.