Good for Justice Kennedy!

I want to applaud Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. Siding with the law-minded half of the Court, he was the pivotal vote in a key verdict, granting habeas corpus rights to the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

I have never believed that those kept prisoner in that facility should be denied the rights afforded those accused under the Constitution. Keeping them offshore, in a Naval facility, was never in the best interests of justice. Now that it has been torn aside by this third judgment against the Bush regime, perhaps we can hope to see real justice done.

Are the men in Guantanamo angels, entirely innocent and blameless of any wrongdoing? I have no idea; I doubt it, but don't know anything about them.

But... the way our government imprisoned, mistreated and denied them even the most basic human or legal rights for years will prevent us from ever getting a straight answer to that question. Evidence produced by the interrogators is suspect; testimony offered by those who arranged this incarceration is equally suspect.

So where does that leave us? It leaves our next Administration the unenviable task of trying to make something legitimate and honest out of this travesty. Perhaps this ruling by the Court--derided, as expected, by Scalia, Alito, Roberts and Thomas, not to mention McBush--will be one step closer to bringing our country out of the darkness and restoring our good name.

One can only hope.