A federal judge used tough language to block efforts by the
Obama administration to limit the legal rights of terror
suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba,
ruling Thursday that proposed changes were an "illegitimate
exercise of executive power."  Officials of the departments of
Justice and Defense had claimed they alone should decide when
the prisoners deserve regular access to their attorneys.  But in
a 32-page ruling, Judge Royce Lamberth said federal courts had
proper authority to decide the matter, and criticized the
executive branch for recently changing the procedures, when he
said the current system was working well.  "The old maxim 'if it
ain't broke, don't fix it' would seem to caution against
altering a counsel-access regime that has proven safe,
efficient, and eminently workable," said Lamberth. "Indeed," he
added, "the government had no answer when the court posed this
question in oral arguments" last month.  "Access to the courts
means nothing without access to counsel," add