LAST WEEK a federal court in Washington threw out the lawsuit of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, the detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, whose successful challenge to the Bush administration's proposed military trials for accused terrorists led to a landmark Supreme Court decision earlier this year. The dismissal of the case is an ironic consequence of Mr. Hamdan's victory before the high court. The justices' decision forced Congress finally to take action to create a legal structure for the war on terrorism. But one of the actions Congress took in the hastily passed Military Commissions Act was to strip the federal courts of jurisdiction over such lawsuits, including those, like Mr. Hamdan's, that were already pending. Under the act, many other important cases will probably have to be dismissed -- which is why Congress should promptly amend the law when it reconvenes in January....
Fix Needed
LAST WEEK a federal court in Washington threw out the lawsuit of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, the detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, whose successful challenge to the Bush administration's proposed military trials for accused terrorists led to a landmark Supreme Court decision earlier this year. The dismissal of the case is an ironic consequence of Mr. Hamdan's victory before the high court. The justices' decision forced Congress finally to take action to create a legal structure for the war on terrorism. But one of the actions Congress took in the hastily passed Military Commissions Act was to strip the federal courts of jurisdiction over such lawsuits, including those, like Mr. Hamdan's, that were already pending. Under the act, many other important cases will probably have to be dismissed -- which is why Congress should promptly amend the law when it reconvenes in January....