“It is my belief, shared by many lawyers who have followed the legal battles over Guantanamo, that the president could have shut the prison down if he had really been determined to do so. One reason the prisoners can’t get out is that the courts have essentially ruled that a president has an absolute right to imprison anyone he wants during a time of war — with no second-guessing from either of the other two branches of government. by the same legal logic, a president can free any prisoner in a time of war. Had the president taken that stance, there would undoubetdly have been a court fight. but so what? Aren’t some things worth fighting for?”
Joe Nocera, “Obama’s Gitmo Problem,” NYT
Embattled Farmers 