CLT and Boumediene

Albert Brooks responds to my question about MoJ's relative silence regarding the Boumediene case:

In response to your MOJ inquiry about what, if any, the CST perspective on Boumediene should be, I think we absolutely have something to say.  First, the Chuch validates the role of the Judiciary as a check and balance on the power of the Executive (with the Legislature's assistance) to imprison and punish individuals:

The Church recognizes the responsibility of the State to defend its citizens, but insists that "In a State ruled by law the power to inflict punishment is correctly entrusted to the Courts; 'In defining the proper relationships between the legislative, executive and judicial powers, the Constitutions of modern States guarantee the judicial power the necessary independence in the realm of law.'" (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church at Para. 402, quoting JPII's Address to the Italian Association of Judges)(emphasis in original).

Further, "In carrying out investigations, the regulation against the use of torture, even in the case of serious crimes, must be strictly observed: 'Christ's disciple refuses every recourse to such methods, which nothing could justify and in which the dignity of man is as much debased in his torturer as in the torturer's victim.'  Likewise ruled out is 'the use of detention for the sole purpose of trying to obtain significant information for the trial.'  Moreover, it must be ensured that 'trials are conducted swiftly: their excessive length is becoming intolerable for citizens and results in real injustice.'" Id. at Para 404 (emphasis added). Well, you might ask, isn't Terrorism different?  NO.

"This right [to defend oneself from terrorism] cannot be exercised in the absence of moral and legal norms, because the struggle against terrorists must be carried out with respect for human rights and for the principles of a State ruled by law.  The identification of the guilty party must be duly proven, because criminal responsibility is always personal, and therefore cannot be extended to the religions, nations or ethnic groups to which the terrorists belong.

The recruitment of terrorists in fact is easier in situations where rights are trampled and injustices are tolerated over a long period of time." Id at Para 514.  I believe Justice Kennedy's Majority opinion is fully in line with all of these principles that the Church insists upon. The four Justices who dissented?  Four Catholics appointed by Republican Presidents.