I’m sure this will prompt more expert legal commentary than I can provide. But, at first blush, it seems a big deal to me:
In a startling turn of events in the legal combat over the war on terrorism, the Supreme Court on Friday agreed to reconsider the appeals in the Guantanamo Bay detainee cases. It vacated its April 2 order denying review of the two packets of cases. The Court then granted review, consolidated the cases, and said they would be heard in a one-hour argument in the new Term starting Oct. 1. Such a switch by the Court may not have occurred since at least 1968 (Kolod v. U.S., 390 U.S. 136), according to Court sources.
The order also said that new briefs will be sought, after the D.C. Circuit rules in pending cases on how judicial review is to work for detainees under the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005. The cases to be reheard are Boumediene v. Bush (06-1195) and Al Odah v. U.S. (06-1196).
The Dish 