US Courts Agree: Bush Is A Criminal

Two US courts on either side of the USA have ruled that the Bush administration has acted illegally in detaining US citizens and others as "terrorist suspects" without charging them or giving them access to the legal system. The rulings apply to those being held both within the US and in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In New York, an appeals court has overruled Bush by ordering the US military hand over to civilian custody Jose Padilla, an American citizen who has been designated an "enemy combatant". Mr Padilla has been held without charges in a military brig since June last year.

The court ruling said Bush's constitutional powers do not extend to detaining an American citizen seized inside the US, away from a combat zone, as an enemy combatant.

Meanwhile, in San Francisco, a federal appeals court ruled that prisoners held at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba should have access to lawyers and the American court system.

“Even in times of national emergency — indeed, particularly in such times — it is the obligation of the Judicial Branch to ensure the preservation of our constitutional values and to prevent the Executive Branch from running roughshod over the rights of citizens and aliens alike,” Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote for the 2-1 majority.

As these judgements indicate, it's time to impeach Bush and his neo-con criminal cronies.