NP: Pandora

I'm not usually one to cover the Supreme Court beat, but reading this week's Michael Miner column in The Reader got me thinking.

Miner uses the Supremes' recent Bowles vs. Russell decision -- more of a non-decision, really, in that the court declared it had no jurisdiction over the case -- to paint a dystopian picture of an American where an overzealous government uses strict, literal interpretations of vaguely written laws to lock up domestic dissenters without trial or other legal recourse. Good for him, but that's not what piqued my interest.

The case involved a man being denied appeal because he was two days late filing it, on account of being given the wrong date by a district judge. The Supreme Court ruled it couldn't consider why the appeal was filed late because it was filed late.

The message that I'm taking from this is that it practically codifies the Rove attack machine M.O. When given false information, it is the responsibility of the receiver of that information to ensure that it is, in fact, correct. That the receiver was given false information -- a statute of limitations, a bogus claim about someone's record, etc. -- apparently isn't any reason for concern. And in claiming no jurisdiction over whether the late appeal could be heard specifically because it was late, rather than based on the merit of the argument, there seems to be no distinction between accidentally giving that false information and deliberately lying.

I think maybe Fox News honcho Roger Ailes has that embroidered on a pillow.

Also worth noting in the column is a quote from the text of the Military Commissions Act, which reads that "a military commission under this chapter shall have jurisdiction to try any offense made punishable by this chapter or the law of war when committed by an alien unlawful enemy combatant before, on, or after September 11, 2001." Emphasis mine. The law is saying that when you broke this law is immaterial, but they stuck in the 9/11 reference just for kicks. Now I'm starting to wonder where else that pops up in GOP-authored legislation.