The U.S. Supreme Court apparently has lost interest in the difficult and important issues raised by the indefinite detention of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. On June 11, the Supreme Court denied review in seven cases posing unresolved questions presented by Guantánamo detainees seeking redress. There remain in Guantánamo 169 prisoners, some who have been there for more than 10 years without a trial, and they are left with no apparent legal recourse.
In 2004, in Rasul v. Bush, the Supreme Court held that Guantánamo detainees may file writs of habeas corpus in federal court. Four years later, in Boumediene v. Bush, the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a federal law, the Military Commission Act, that barred Guantánamo detainees from having access to habeas corpus. Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the Court, stressed the importance of habeas corpus and of following the rule of law even in the context of fighting terrorism. But since then, the Court has refused to hear a single case brought by a Guantánamo detainee.
