Essay on "Police Officers Have Discretion"

Essay 6 pages (2047 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Author Russell Weaver, a constitutional lecturer, presents several cases that apply to this question of whether enemy combatants have the right to habeas corpus. In Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, a U.S. citizen named Yaser Esam Hamdi -- who grew up in Saudi Arabia and was captured in Afghanistan for "allegedly aiding the enemy" -- was detained as an enemy combatant and held without any charges filed against him. His father filed a claim for habeas corpus and hence the Supreme Court was faced with the constitutionality as it related to detainees who were U.S. citizens (Weaver, 2009, p. 108).

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor -- writing for the majority -- held that at the very least enemy combatants have the right to "…contest their status as enemy combatants," including the right to employ habeas corpus (Weaver, 108). O'Connor's most well-known statement from that decision is as follows: "We have long since made clear that a state of war is not a blank check for the President when it comes to the rights of the Nation's citizens" (Weaver, 208). A few months after that decision, a deal was struck and the government released the detainee (providing he leave the U.S. And "renounce his citizenship") (Weaver, 208).

Another case that is relevant to this issue was Boumediene v. Bush, tried in June 2008. In this ruling, Weaver explains. A detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was granted the constitutional right to assert habeas corpus in U.S. Courts. Boumediene was granted habeas corpus notwithstanding the "Combat Status Review Tribunals" and other components from the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, Weaver continues (109). The law Congress passed (Detainee Treatment Act / DTA) "…did not adequately substitute for a denial the writ of habeas corpus," the High Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that was written by Justice Kennedy (Weaver, 109). Hence, the SCOTUS was basically negating the authority of Congress to pass the DTA, and giving constitutional rights to detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay. While Cuba is not within the borders of the U.S., Kennedy wrote that Guantanamo is "…under the complete and total control of our Government" (Weaver, 109).

In conclusion, while the judicial system in the U.S. has its flaws, and makes decisions that are not always universally applauded, in controversial cases citizens need courts to sort out decisions. In cases where police need guidance vis-a-vis discretionary issues, and cases where laws against owning handguns are contested, and regarding the constitutional correctness of wiretaps and rights of detainees -- the High Court is always going to be where the buck stops.

Works Cited

Jackson, Nicky Ali. (2007). Encyclopedia of Domestic Violence. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Kanovitz, Jacqueline R. (2012). Constitutional Law. Maryland Heights, MO: Elsevier.

Longley, Robert. (2012). How To Amend the U.S. Constitution. About.com. Retrieved June 15,

2012, from http://usgovinfo.about.com.

North Carolina Wesleyan College. (2005). Police Discretion. Retrieved June 14, 2012, from http://faculty.ncwc.edu/mstevens/205/205lect09.htm.

Savage, Charlie, and Risen, James. (2010). Federal Judge Finds N.S.A. Wiretaps Were Illegal.

The New York Times. Retrieved June 15, 2012, from http://www.nytimes.com.

Schultz, David. (2005). The Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court. New York: Infobase

Publishing.

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