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US demands al-Marri Supreme Court case be dropped
Washington (AFP) March 5, 2009 The new US administration has pressed the Supreme Court in papers filed this week to set aside a constitutional challenge in a case that could determine whether "enemy combatants" can be held indefinitely on US soil. The case involves Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, an alleged Al-Qaeda sleeper agent who has been held as an "enemy combatant" in the United States since 2003 but was formally charged last week in a civilian court. The Supreme Court agreed in December to consider a petition by al-Marri's lawyers challenging former president George W. Bush's authority to indefinitely hold US residents and citizens without charge or trial. But President Barack Obama's administration has sought to block the challenge, urging in papers filed before the court Wednesday that the case be dismissed. Acting solicitor general Edwin Kneedler acknowledged that the case addressed "extremely sensitive constitutional questions." Kneedler argued, however, that since "no individuals will remain detained as enemy combatants on United States soil" after al-Marri's change in status, any judgment by the court would be a "hypothetical pronouncement that will not affect the legal rights of (al-Marri) or any other person." "Given that the petitioner will be able to challenge any future detention should the need arise, there is no need for this court to decide the seminal constitutionnal questions raised here without a concrete case before it," he added. In its motion filed Tuesday, the ACLU said in a statement that the administration's move to have the al-Marri Supreme Court case dropped means the government "has not renounced the authority to detain US residents and citizens in military custody as 'enemy combatants.'" A hearing has been scheduled for April 27 but the high court could decide before then to take the case, or send it back to a lower court. Al-Marri, a dual Qatari-Saudi national, was arrested in late 2001. He has been held has been held in a military brig in South Carolina since 2003 when Bush declared him an "enemy combatant." In a change of status, he was charged last week in a federal court with providing support to Al-Qaeda, and announced his transfer to a federal prison. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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