rssWill SCOTUS Really Hear the Al-Marri Case? Not so fast…
Saturday, December 06, 2008 at 10:57 am
- 8 Comments
By now you’ve probably heard that the Supreme Court has decided to hear the case of the sole legal U.S. resident detained indefinitely — yes, that means potentially forever — without charges, right here on U.S. soil. All because President Bush decided on his own authority, that this 28-year-old father of five, who was then living quietly in Peoria, Ill., was a dangerous associate of Al Qaeda. No proof required, and none has been offered in any court of law.
As Matthew DeLong noted earlier, the Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri’s appeal, which questions whether the president really has the authority to hold U.S. residents indefinitely without charge. Al-Marri has been detained, mostly in solitary confinement, at a Navy brig in South Carolina since June 2003.
But there’s a good chance that the Supreme Court will never get to hear al-Marri’s appeal and rule on this critical constitutional question. That’s because, as George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley explained on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” Friday, the Bush administration may decide to transfer al-Marri to a regular prison and charge him as a criminal — purely to keep the issue from reaching the Supreme Court, where the Bush administration may well lose the case.
That’s what the Bush administration did in the case of Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen also classified as an “enemy combatant,” who was transferred to the criminal justice system so no court could rule on the legality of the administration’s actions.
The other likely scenario is that a new Obama administration, which will presumably be gung-ho about preserving civil liberties, will take over in January and reverse the government’s position in the case and decide that al-Marri cannot be held indefinitely as an enemy combatant without charges after all. The Supreme Court probably wouldn’t hear oral arguments in this case until spring, and it’s hard to imagine that the new Justice Department, under Attorney General-nominee Eric Holder — who has made strong statements about the illegality of Bush’s detention policies — is going to defend President Bush’s executive decision to hold al-Marri indefinitely.
While that would be a good outcome for al-Marri, it could be a loss for civil libertarians, who are hoping that the U.S. Supreme Court will rule definitively that the president of the United States does not have the authority to detain a U.S. resident in a U.S. prison indefinitely without charge, without having to prove to some federal judge somewhere that he poses a real danger.
8 Comments
Comment posted December 6, 2008 @ 10:57 am
It will be an ironic shame if the legalities prevent the Court from pronouncing the death sentence on this issue.
Comment posted December 6, 2008 @ 11:21 am
And what recourse will this “enemy combatant” be allowed to take, as a US citizen, under the First Amendment which clearly states that any citizen may choose to petition the government to seek redress for grievances. The first five words of this Right arer “Congress shall make no law….” effecting the Right of free speech and the right to seek redress. Of course, under FERES, no service member wronged for any crime 'incient to service' is qualified to seek redress. Perhaps the government will induct this prisoner into military service so that he will not have the Right to seek redress!
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Comment posted December 6, 2008 @ 1:17 pm
'Though he might deserve it, I doubt the SCOTUS will impose the death penalty on…Bush!
Comment posted January 26, 2009 @ 12:35 am
Every American appointed to serve the Government and the American People, and whose salary is being paid by the AmericanPeople's Tax Dollars is responsible for following American rule, law and the nation's Constitution, not flip-flop under foreign rule, law, or desires. Besides, there's also the International Law that we must abide by otherwise we would only look like a dangerous and a hypocrital idiots on preaching ethics, principles and moralty to other countries. America will have no credibility leading the world if it acts and sinks to the level of evil nations.
We have a bad history of making slaves out of human beings and for our history of tirture to slaves. Must we continue, in this modern age, to put America to shame in this modern age? Granted we may have Nazis and whores to the Nazis probably living among us, but why choose to go to hell with them?
Abu Gareb and Gitmo are good examples to show that there are those working in them that are equally as evil as the terrorists. No evil people deserve support, whatsoever their nationalities.
Comment posted January 28, 2009 @ 6:27 pm
All terrorists are the result of the real terrorist's propaganda. The real terrorist being GEORGE W. BUSH!
Comment posted January 29, 2009 @ 9:19 am
Thanks for the info. May God have mercy on us all.
Comment posted February 1, 2009 @ 10:14 am
We here in Germany cant understand sometimes whats going on in the US. How is this possible to “detain a U.S. resident in a U.S. prison indefinitely without charge, without having to prove to some federal judge somewhere that he poses a real danger?”
Comment posted February 1, 2009 @ 6:14 pm
We here in Germany cant understand sometimes whats going on in the US. How is this possible to “detain a U.S. resident in a U.S. prison indefinitely without charge, without having to prove to some federal judge somewhere that he poses a real danger?”
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