Bostonist always has trouble deciding how we feel about well-intentioned but utterly useless projects. So it was with mixed feelings that we learned of House Bill 1881 in the Mass. Legislature, which proposes a statewide resolution supporting the Constitution and condemning the USA PATRIOT Act (which has to be in all capital letters because, annoyingly, it stands for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools for Intercepting and Obstructing Terrorism"). It's not that we disagree with the message - we are huge fans of the Constitution, having sworn to protect it against all enemies foreign and domestic. But the news lately suggests to us that no amount of haughty scolding from the likes of Massachusetts will dissuade the current administration from its belief that certain constitutional rights (like, for example, being free from unreasonable detention, having a speedy, public trial with a lawyer to defend you, and having due process of law) are all like, totally five-minutes-ago. After all, despite revelations that many of the people being held without charges in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are not terrorists, Donald Rumsfeld reiterated last week the necessity to keep the facility up and running for years to come. (It's also not a good sign when government lawyers arguing in favor of indefinite detention have to rely on one of the most shameful and racist actions by the federal government in the last 100 years.)

In the end, the decision on whether imprisoning people forever without charges violates their right to not to be imprisoned forever without charges will probably be up to the Supreme Court (which has already said, by the way, that the detainees in Guantanamo are protected by the Constitution and can seek help in U.S. courts, although the administration is fighting tooth and nail to make sure that ruling is never fairly implemented). Short of an actual amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Bostonist doubts the Supreme Court will take much notice of what the Mass. legislature does. (And what would an amendment even say? "You know the Bill of Rights? It's for real and we hereby endorse it. Again.") Nevertheless, if you feel passionately about the issue and want your voice heard, the ACLU is holding a rally outside the statehouse at noon on Wednesday to support the resolution, and also urges you to attend hearings on the bill at 10:00 a.m. Depending on our level of grumpy civil libertarian ennui that day, Bostonist may attend.