The Supreme Court's Gitmo Fake-Out
After yesterday, we thought they were all done for the Term. We thought wrong.
Some notable news from the Supreme Court today. Lyle Denniston of the invaluable SCOTUSblog reports:
In a startling turn of events in the legal combat over the war on terrorism, the Supreme Court on Friday agreed to reconsider the appeals in the Guantanamo Bay detainee cases. It vacated its April 2 order denying review of the two packets of cases. The Court then granted review, consolidated the cases, and said they would be heard in a one-hour argument in the new Term starting Oct. 1.Such a switch by the Court -- from denial to rehearing and new argument and decision -- may not have occurred since 1947, in Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, legal sources said Friday.
So they've changed their mind about a cert grant for the first time in 60 years. What a neat little factoid!
But hey, being a Supreme Court justice means being able to change your mind. And never having to say you're sorry.
(For more on the likely import of this change of heart, see Orin Kerr.)
Court switches, will hear detainee cases [SCOTUSblog]
Supreme Court Agrees to Take Guantanamo Bay Cases [Volokh Conspiracy]
(3) Comments
So do we know (or can we guess) which justice(s) switched their votes?
I'm going to take a wild guess and say mmmm
Kennedy and Stevens. I dunno. Maybe I'm taking crazy pills.
I'm guessing that the NYT's coverage of the Bush administration's waffling about closing Gitmo had something to do with this. In April, when it looked like Gitmo wasn't going to be closed any time soon, SCOTUS didn't want a showdown with POTUS. If Bush is on the fence about shutting Gitmo down, though, hearing this case becomes much less confrontational, and may tip the balance in favor of closure.