Roberts' past may be omen of future

Editor,

John Roberts' very recent past is telling of what his possible Supreme Court appointment may offer. In July of this year, John Roberts, from his current position within the second highest court in the land, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, heard the case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.

Salim Ahmed Hamdan, an admitted driver for Osama bin Laden and suspected member of al Queda, is currently detained at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay. Hamdan has been held at 'Gitmo' for more than three years.

The Hamdan case, decided by Judge Roberts, allows the president to circumvent federal courts and time-tested limitations on the executive branch. The Court's decision grants the president "unreviewable power" to strip Hamdan and all other detainees under the guise of "The War on Terror of humane treatments set forth by the Geneva Conventions and the International Covenant Against Torture. Judge Roberts has turned on its head the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which states: "All treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the Supreme Law of the Land."

Roberts met with White House officials and U.S. Attorney General Gonzales on April 1, six days prior to the beginning of oral arguments of the Hamdan case. In early May, Roberts met with Vice President Cheney, Chief of Staff Andy Card, and Karl Rove at the White House, while the Hamdan case was in progress. Roberts met with President Bush on July 15, the same day the Hamdan decision was handed down. George Bush nominated John Roberts to the Supreme Court on July 19.

John Roberts now sits before the Senate Judicial Committee which will review his qualifications to lead the U.S. Supreme Court. Salim Ahmed Hamdan sits in a prison cell in Cuba, stripped of his rights to even appear at his own trial or review evidence against him (if such trial even takes place), a situation unprecedented in our nation's 229-year history. A situation provided us by John Roberts.

Ben Griffing

Polson