Judge Orders Release of 17 Guantanamo Prisoners

Forget tonight's presidential debate. The big news has to be the federal court ruling to release 17 Guantanamo detainees by the end of the week.

The Bush administration has, predictably, expressed disappointment and concern over the ruling, despite the fact that, according to the NYT article, the government was no longer attempting to prosecute a case against the men in questions as enemy combatants. It remains to be seen whether the government will seek to delay or interfere with Judge Ricardo Urbina's ruling.

Says lawyer P. Sabin Willet, for the detainees: “We’ve had so many hearings where we didn’t even get half a loaf, we got a little crumb . . . I’m emotionally unprepared for this.”