Terror suspect can challenge U.S. detention: court

Reuters on Yahoo ^ | 7/15/08 | James Vicini

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush can order the imprisonment of an al Qaeda suspect in the United States but the detainee must be able to challenge his status as an "enemy combatant," a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.

The court, based in Richmond, Virginia, was split 5-4 on both issues in a mixed ruling about a Qatari national, Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, the only foreign national held in the United States as an "enemy combatant."

If the government's allegations about Marri are true, then the U.S. Congress gave Bush the power to detain him as part of the authorization for use of military force after the September 11 attacks by al Qaeda in 2001, the court ruled.

But the court also said Marri, held in a U.S. Navy brig in Charleston, South Carolina, for more than five years without any charges brought ... , had not been given an adequate opportunity to challenge his detention.

The court sent the case back to a federal judge in South Carolina for new proceedings on the evidence of whether Marri is an "enemy combatant" ..

--snip--

The decision was the latest scrutiny of Bush's war on terrorism policies adopted after the September 11 attacks.

The Supreme Court delivered a stinging rebuke to Bush in a landmark ruling last month that the prisoners held at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba can go before federal judges in Washington to seek their release.

Marri entered the United States on September 10, 2001, and was said by a captured al Qaeda member to have come to help operatives who were plotting a second wave of attacks.

Marri was a legal U.S. resident and was initially detained in December 2001 to testify in the investigation of the September 11 attacks.

[musicman]

[RC2]

Guess that means that fewer of them would ever reach a prison alive. Why are we doing this to ourselves? Seems like we capture the enemy and we become the bad guys. Enough is enough. Change our Congress and get people that honestly care about the States. If need be, change our Constitution to reflect the same.

[3AngelaD]

Marri entered the United States on September 10, 2001, and was said by a captured al Qaeda member to have come to help operatives who were plotting a second wave of attacks. Marri was a legal U.S. resident and was initially detained in December 2001 to testify in the investigation of the September 11 attacks. He later was indicted in Illinois, where he attended school, for credit card fraud, making false statements to the FBI and other charges. Marri pleaded not guilty. ...Okay, then, send him back to Qatar, where I am sure all of his Constitutional rights will be observed scrupulously.

[xDGx]

Not affording terrorists due process denies trial attorneys more income, including but not limited to new BMW’s & Lexii.

[Paine in the Neck]

What happens next time we’re in a BIG war and we’ve got tens of thousands of the enemy rounded up? Each one of them gets a hearing?

[isrul]

The courts must e taken out of this process.

[waxer1]

Yup, I assume the same. I was wondering when this was going to happen after the supremes ruled the way they did.

Easier just to do away with them rather than bring them back here. Oh well....too bad (NOT)