Why Habeas Corpus is so important

I just got home from work and read this article about 17 Guantanamo Bay prisoners finally being released after 6 years. They did nothing wrong, but were turned in (sold out) by Pakistanis that wanted the $5,000 bounty the U.S. government was offering.

So now, after last year's Boumediene v. Bush decision, they had the right to make a habeas corpus appeal to a U.S. judge, and the judge ordered them to be released.

Unfortunately for these folks, the Justice Department wants a "stay" in the ruling (keeping them imprisoned) in a separation of powers argument. They say the judicial branch doesn't have the authority to tell the government to settle these 17 people in the United States.

Check it out:

Federal Judge Orders Release of Chinese Muslims