Judge This

The media conspiracy is making a stink today about the fact that the feds may be listening in on Al Qaeda members making international calls. Specifically, much is being made of the resignation of one U.S. District Judge from a court set up to judge the legalities of spying.

Unease Rises Over Domestic Spying

These experts pointed to this week's unprecedented resignation from the government's spy court by U.S. District Judge James Robertson as an indicator of the judiciary's unease over domestic wiretaps ordered without warrants under a highly classified domestic spying program authorized by President Bush.

"This is a very big deal. Judges get upset with government lawyers all the time, but they don't resign in protest unless they're really offended to the point of saying they're being misused," said Kenneth C. Bass, a former senior Justice Department lawyer who oversaw such wiretap requests during the Carter administration.

Let's ignore the fact that this ‘expert’ hails from the Carter administration. But as it turns out, Judge Robertson is the same jurist who wanted to drop POW status on Al Qaeda. In the manner of Joe Wilson, another partisan has inserted himself into the news. Lovely.

Judge Says Detainees' Trials Are Unlawful

In a setback for the Bush administration, U.S. District Judge James Robertson found that detainees at the Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may be prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions and therefore entitled to the protections of international and military law -- which the government has declined to grant them.

The decision came in a lawsuit filed by the first alleged al Qaeda member facing trial before what the government calls "military commissions." The decision upends -- for now -- the administration's strategy for prosecuting hundreds of alleged al Qaeda and Taliban detainees accused of terrorist crimes.

"We vigorously disagree. . . . The judge has put terrorism on the same legal footing as legitimate methods of waging war," said Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo.

And take a look at this ruling…

Judge Dismisses Indictment Against Hubbell

Needless to say, he was a Clinton appointee. My guess is that the media will grant him hero status by the end of the week.

Oh, by the way...

A federal appeals court overruled Robertson on the war-crimes commission, setting the stage for a Supreme Court showdown.

Judge who resigned from spy court critical of detainees' treatment

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