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| Indictment key in combatant policy |
| 2009-02-28 |
| The criminal indictment against the final "enemy combatant" held on American soil marks a stunning departure from the Bush administration's handling of terrorism cases, but it may also help preserve one of the Bush era's most contentious policies. A federal indictment unsealed Friday in Illinois charges Ali al-Marri with providing material support to al Qaeda. The charges come as the Supreme Court prepares to hear his challenge to Bush administration detention policies; Mr. al-Marri has been held for nearly six years in isolation in a Navy brig in South Carolina. The Obama administration hopes that the criminal charges will end the Supreme Court case, which would allow Bush administration policies to continue. On Friday afternoon, the Justice Department's solicitor general filed a motion to dismiss Mr. al-Marri's pending litigation before the Supreme Court. President Obama has ordered that Mr. al-Marri be transferred from the brig to a federal prison. The Justice Department said it will make the transfer after the Supreme Court rules on the Justice's motion to dismiss the al-Marri case as moot. Mr. al-Marri's Supreme Court case challenges the legal and constitutional authority of the president to designate any person in the U.S. as an "enemy combatant" and order him held without charges by the military in the U.S. Mr. Obama said in his order that his decision reverses Mr. Bush's designation of Mr. al-Marri as an enemy combatant. Mr. al-Marri's lawyers say they will fight the Obama administration's motion to dismiss and will demand a hearing on the case's merits before the justices. "Despite this indictment, the Obama administration has yet to renounce the government's asserted authority to imprison legal residents and U.S. citizens without charge or trial," said Jonathan Hafetz, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's National Security Project. "It is important that the court hears Mr. al-Marri's case and rejects, once and for all, the notion that any president has the sweeping authority to deprive individuals living in the United States of their most basic constitutional rights by designating them 'enemy combatants,' " he said in a statement. The court, which had been scheduled to hear arguments in the case April 27, told Mr. al-Marri's lawyers to file legal responses by Tuesday. |
| Posted by:Fred |