Reason
by Jacob Sullum

12/28/05

On criminal justice and national security issues, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit is widely considered the most government-friendly federal appeals court. So when a 4th Circuit panel rebukes the Bush administration for its handling of an accused terrorist, in a decision written by a judge who was on the president's Supreme Court short list, even the president's most ardent supporters have to wonder what's going on. What's going on is that President Bush's broad view of his own powers and his disregard for the other branches of government have provoked a backlash that goes well beyond the carping of partisan Democrats. Even a court that was prepared to uphold the president's authority to detain suspected terrorists as 'enemy combatants' is not prepared to let him submit his actions to judicial review only when he feels like it...

http://www.reason.com/sullum/122805.shtml


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp