The federal bench is no bastion of liberty, but to the extent that it throws the occasional impediment in the way of executive power — something Congress seems little inclined to do — it’s one of the last flimsy defenses Americans have for their traditional and constitutional freedoms. No wonder Newt Gingrich gets mad.

A case in point comes from Antiwar.com’s Jason Ditz, who writes up the good news about the National Defense Authorization Act’s provisions for indefinite detention:

US District Judge Katherine Forrest has issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the enforcement of the portions of the National Defense Authorization Act 2012 (NDAA) that relate to open-ended military detention of “suspects,” rejecting the Obama Administration’s arguments that the eight plaintiffs in the case, including Noam Chomsky and Daniel Ellsberg, did not have standing to contest such detention practices.

Read on.

(And yes, all limbs of Leviathan being what they are, “stopping” NDAA is too optimistic by way more than half — but enjoy Lindsey Graham‘s consternation while it lasts.)