Roberts Choice 'Troubling' ; Could Weaken Separation of Powers

Summary

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There is much to admire in the extensive legal experience of Judge John Roberts. But the prospect of his being on the Supreme Court for 30 or more years is troubling as there is no discernible end to worldwide terrorism, and Judge Roberts's proven deference to presidential powers could result in a further weakening of our already embattled separation of powers in the Constitution.

For the last two years, as a judge on the influential District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Judge Roberts has spoken for himself, not for the Justice Department or his private clients. Significantly, in a key decision on the president's view of his powers as commander in chief, Judge Roberts joined with two of his colleagues in the recent Hamdan vs. Rumsfeld; the ruling gave this and succeeding presidents the unreviewable power to bypass civilian courts and previous due- process protections of our military courts in the treatment of prisoners suspected of involvement in terrorism.

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Extract

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Roberts Choice 'Troubling' ; Could Weaken Separation of Powers

Salim Ahmed Hamdan has been a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for three years, some of the time in solitary confinement. He is now being put before a military commission (a process invented by the Bush admin...

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