Kendell Nash 

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 Supreme Court: Habeas corpus is terror detainees' right

Combined News Services

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court rebuked the Bushadministration yesterday for a third time for its handling of the rights ofterrorism detainees held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, saying those in custody therehave a constitutional right to challenge their captivity in federal courts.

By a 5-4 vote that brought strongly worded and remorseful dissents from thecourt's conservative justices, the majority held that an alternative proceduredesigned by the administration and Congress was inadequate to ensure that thedetainees, some of whom have been imprisoned for six years without a hearing,receive their day in court.

"The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force,in extraordinary times," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote. "Liberty and security canbe reconciled; and in our system they are reconciled within the framework ofthe law."

Beshear gives gays protection at work

By Tom Loftus • This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it • June 3, 2008

Recopied from: Courier-Journal of Louisville, June 5th, 2008.

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Gov. Steve Beshear yesterday granted employment protections for gays and lesbians in state government, one of three executive orders he made reversing policies of his predecessor.

The other two fulfill campaign promises he made to labor groups: giving the state's labor agency cabinet-level status and re-establishing a council to advise him on the concerns of state workers.

On gay rights, former Gov. Ernie Fletcher, a Republican, had stripped from his administration's equal employment opportunities policy a phrase to bar job discrimination in state government on the basis of "sexual orientation or gender identity."

Beshear, a Democrat, said in a statement yesterday that the policy meant that "a gay person could be fired simply for being gay. A person should be hired or dismissed on the basis of whether they can do the job. Experience, qualifications, talent and performance are what matter." The order says that the protection includes matters relating to "hiring, promotion, termination, tenure, recruitment and compensation."

Christina Gilgor, executive director of the Kentucky Fairness Alliance, said the group was "thrilled that Governor Beshear has kept his campaign promise to reinstate sexual orientation and gender identity in the state government's employment nondiscrimination policy."

She said the executive order "puts Kentucky among 26 other states, and ahead of the federal government, on this issue. It's another fine example of the critical role individual states play in advancing justice for all Americans."

David Edmunds, a policy analyst for the Family Foundation, said Beshear's action was "troubling because -- by executive order -- he is building the road that leads to the pro-gay marriage agenda, including domestic-partner benefits and gay adoption."

Beshear was asked about the issue during a news conference yesterday at which he publicly signed orders that elevated the labor agency from department to cabinet status and revived the Governor's Employee Advisory Council.

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