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Judge: U.S. can't set limits on Guantanamo lawyers

Four years after a Democratic convention replete with criticism of then-President George W. Bush for illegally exceeding his executive powers in places like Guantanamo, President Barack Obama finds his administration the target of a tongue-lashing from a federal judge over its handling of lawyers' access to those same war-on-terror prisoners.

On Thursday afternoon, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth handed a resounding victory to Guantanamo inmates and their attorneys, rejecting a bid by the Obama Administration to unilaterally set the rules under which those lawyers operate.

In his sharply-worded decision, Lamberth was unsparing in his criticism of the government, blasting officials for "an illegitimate exercise of Executive power."

A few months ago, the military asserted that it could determine the visitation and communication rules for lawyers without consulting the courts with regard to detainees whose initial challenges to their detention have already been rejected. Justice Department attorneys defended the Pentagon's stance.

But lawyers for the inmates noted that prisoners have the right to make new bids for freedom. The terror suspects' attorneys also said there was no reason to abrogate the court-ordered rules that have been in place for years.

In the 32-page opinion (posted here), Lamberth unambiguously sided with the prisoners and their counsel.

"In the case of Guantanamo detainees, access to the courts means nothing without access to counsel," wrote Lamberth, a Reagan appointee. "And it is undisputed that petitioners here have a continuing right to seek habeas relief. It follows that petitioners have an ongoing right to access the courts and, necessarily, to consult with counsel. Therefore, the Government's attempt to supersede the Court's authority is an illegitimate exercise of Executive power.

"The Court, whose duty it is to secure an individual's liberty for unauthorized illegal Executive confinement, cannot now tell a prisoner that he must beg leave of the Executive's grace before the Court will involve itself. This very notion offends the separation of powers principles and our constitutional scheme," added Lamberth, who is serving at the moment as the chief judge in the district court in Washington.

A Justice Department spokesman said government lawyers are reviewing the decision and "have no further comment at this time."

Lamberth's initial ruling said that no prisoner at Guantanamo had ever been "fully tried or convicted of a crime." That's actually not true. In fact several have pled guilty before military commissions and one, Ahmed Ghailani, was flown to New York and convicted there after a trial. The judge later updated his opinion to say "only a handful have been tried or convicted."

UPDATE (Friday, 3:45 A.M.): This post has been updated with the change to the judge's opinion.