Constitution: liberals' pawn or fount of liberties?

Government loses appeal in Guantanamo habeas case

"We agree" with Bensayah's argument that "mere possession and use of false travel documents is neither proof of involvement with terrorism nor evidence of facilitation of travel by others," Ginsburg wrote.

Leon's judgment in Bensayah's case was also flawed because he'd already found that there was no evidence that the people seized with Bensayah had planned to travel to Afghanistan to fight U.S. forces there.

"Therefore," Ginsburg wrote, "Bensayah could not have been facilitating their travel for that purpose."

Bensayah's appellate attorney could not be reached Friday.

Ginsburg, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan and once was a nominee for the Supreme Court, is generally a reliably conservative member of the D.C. circuit court, which is often called the nation's second-highest court, overseeing many cases involving government actions.

British Prime Minister David Cameron today announced an independent investigation into allegations that U.K. agents were complicit in the torture of detainees in United States custody, and said the U.K. government would compensate torture survivors if the allegations were found to be true. U.K. residents and American Civil Liberties Union clients Binyam Mohamed and Bisher Al Rawi have long claimed that U.K. officials were aware of their CIA-orchestrated rendition and torture.

Following Prime Minister Cameron's announcement, the ACLU called on the Obama administration to broaden its own investigation into the Bush-era torture program to include top-level government officials who may have known about and authorized such abuse. Despite disavowing torture, the current administration continues to shield Bush administration officials from legal scrutiny or accountability for their role in the program. An ongoing Justice Department investigation of the torture program excludes top-level officials.

"An investigation into the role of government personnel in the abuse and torture of prisoners is exactly what the Obama administration should be initiating. And while we welcome Prime Minister Cameron's commitment to ensuring that torture survivors are acknowledged and compensated, this announcement also serves as a reminder of how little has been done here in the United States to reckon with the abuses of the last nine years," said Jameel Jaffer, ACLU Deputy Legal Director. "The Obama administration continues to suppress documents that would allow the public to understand the full scope of the Bush administration's torture program. It continues to use the 'state secrets' privilege to extinguish civil litigation by torture victims. And thus far the only criminal investigation this administration has initiated is one that appears to be focused on interrogators, not on the senior officials who authorized torture."

The Obama administration sued Arizona on Tuesday to throw out the state's toughest-in-the-nation immigration law and keep other states from copying it.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Phoenix said the law, due to take effect July 29, usurps the federal government's "pre-eminent authority" under the Constitution to regulate immigration.

The move sets the stage for a high-stakes legal clash over states' rights at a time when politicians in some other states have indicated they want to follow Arizona's lead.