In terms of constitutional history, the Court’s sweeping declarations in the Boumediene decision, about the role of the judiciary in keeping the government from switching the Constitution on and off, now appear to have meant far less as a check on Executive power than they had seemed when that ruling came down in June 2008. And, while that decision might once have seemed to hold out the promise of ending the detention of many held at Guantanamo, it now appears to mean that some will remain at Guantanamo for years to come, and that facility will remain open indefinitely.So sums up an analysis of the Supreme Court's avoidance of detainee cases this term. The NYT added on a related matter:
As President Obama’s first solicitor general, Justice Elena Kagan was in on the benighted decision to use overwrought secrecy claims to stop any hearing for torture victims. She properly recused herself from voting on the case. Surely among the eight remaining judges there was at least one sensitive to the gross violation of rights, and apparently law. We wish they would have at least offered a dissent or comment to let the world know that the court’s indifference was not unanimous.The only state secrets case the Supreme Court took was a corporate dispute over money. It was decided unanimously on boring grounds [this might be a bit unfair; the ruling is somewhat interesting] though a curious kicker is tacked on that "the state-secrets evidentiary privilege is not to be lightly invoked." Be nice if some real teeth is given to that statement.
The Court did rule 5-4 to uphold a lower court order regarding prison overcrowding involving those in need of medical care should continue, including a few pictures in the .pdf file version. I'm inclined to agree with Dahlia Lithwick that the pictures don't really add much though it is striking to have a touch of visual humanity in the U.S. Reports. And, such graphics might be of some use, while perhaps more used in the future. After all, the average person can take a quick picture on a cell phone and so forth.