Thursday, June 26, 2008

Bloggingheads & Boumedienne

Bloggingheads.TV yesterday posted a discussion between me & Rosa Brooks of the Georgetown Law Center. We spent most of our time, almost all of it in fact, discussing the Boumedienne case. The conversation was lively and I hope interesting. It also neatly encapsulated the difference between liberal and conservative views of law. Rosa's core argument, I think, was that what is happening at Guantanamo (and presumably other places where foreign terrorists are detained) is so intolerable and has continued for so long that the courts simply had to step in and do something. I acknowledged the psychological truth of this explanation, but argued that courts can only act (or rather should only act) when they have a clear legal ground to do so - and that there is no ground here. 

These are foreign belligerents detained in action against US forces. They have certain rights (and responsibilities) under the laws of war and under our common understanding of fundamental human rights, but they cannot claim rights under the US Constitution. The Constitution regulates the relationship between the American people and their government, not between that government and the world. 

Anyway please watch and judge the merits of the discussion for yourself.

06/26 08:50 AM