Guantanamo in the courts: district court judge finds no federal jurisdiction under new U.S. law

President Bush's framework for handling detainees in the war on terror won a victory when U.S. District Court Judge James Robertson ruled that the law removed the detainees from the jurisdiction of the federal court system.

That means that Guantanamo detainees cannot challenge their detention in the Federal courts.

Instead, the cases will be heard by military commission. The decisions of that commission may be challenged in the D.C. court of appeals.

Here's a winning quotation from the opposition:

"This is the first time in the history of this country that a court has held that a man may be held by our government in a place where no law applies," said Barbara Olshansky, deputy legal director of the US Centre for Constitutional Rights.

Apparently Ms. Olshansky considers military commissions and the D.C. court of appeals lawless, as well as the duly-passed law that establishes the arrangement.

Hat tip to Rush Limbaugh, who mentioned the story during his radio program.