Supreme Court: Guantanamo detainees have rights

Associated Press - June 12, 2008 10:23 PM ET

SUPREME COURT -- The Supreme Court has delivered a stinging rebuke to President Bush's anti-terror policies.

The deeply divided court says foreign detainees at Guantanamo have the right to appeal to U.S. civilian courts to challenge their indefinite imprisonment without charges.

Bush says he will abide by the court's decision, even though he strongly disagrees with it. The president suggested he might seek yet another law to keep terror suspects locked up at the prison camp, even as his administration winds down.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the 5-4 majority, said: "The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times."

In a blistering dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia said the decision "will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed."

Lawyers for detainees differ over whether the ruling will lead to prompt hearings for those who have not been charged. Roughly 270 men remain at the prison at the U.S. naval base in Cuba.