Habeas in the Supreme Court

The only thing more amazing to me than the fact that the Supreme Court is hearing arguments regarding whether or not the President has the authority to detain someone indefinitely without bringing charges against them, is that few people seem to care. Will the death of America be silent? Legally, this case is perhaps as important as, I dunno, repealing the First Amendment.

Perhaps equally amazing is that four US Supreme Court justices will likely rule that the President does have that authority. Four will vote no. Justice Kennedy will cast the deciding vote. How did we come to this?

The arguments presented before the court are highly technical, and I suppose, they have to be. That's the way our legal system works. Unfortunately, there is little procedural room for everyone to step back and ask the question, "Are we really trying to say that people can be jailed forever at the sheer whim of the President?" But that's where we're at. And it makes my head spin.

Here is the report from NPR.