Justice and Injustice

These two stories aren't related in any way, but I am posting them together as contrasts. One shows a positive step forward for our country; the other a negative step backwards. I imagine the far-right has a different take than me on which story is which.

First up, the news today from the Garden State-

The US state of New Jersey has become the latest to begin registering same-sex partnerships as civil unions, granting couples new legal rights.

Registered same-sex couples in New Jersey now have adoption and custody rights, as well as new allowances on hospital visits and medical rights.

It is the third state to allow civil unions, a step below the full marriage rights permitted in Massachusetts...

And secondly, some national news on the status of habeas corpus for military detainees-

A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that foreign-born prisoners seized as potential terrorists and held in Guantanamo Bay may not challenge their detention in U.S. courts, a key victory for President Bush's anti-terrorism plan.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 that civilian courts no longer have the authority to consider whether the military is illegally holding the prisoners — a decision that will strip court access for hundreds of detainees with cases currently pending...

Barring federal court access was a key provision in the Military Commissions Act, which Bush pushed through Congress last year to set up a system run by the Defense Department to prosecute terrorism suspects...

...Attorneys for the detainees immediately said they would appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, which last year struck down the Bush administration's original plan for trying detainees before military commissions...

And there you go.