USA Today
March 7, 2009
The president has the authority to detain people without charge, the Supreme Court decided today, dismissing a challenge by suspected al-Qaeda operative Ali Al-Marri.
[efoods]Last week, President Obama ordered al-Marri transferred from military to civilian custody to face federal charges of conspiracy and providing support to terrorists. For 5½ years he has been held as an enemy combatant in the Navy brig in Charleston, S.C. He can now be transferred to a civilian jail.
The action granted the administration’s request to end the case before the high court. The justices also dismissed a federal appeals court ruling that upheld presidential powers of detention.
Obama has not rejected the use of preventive detention, which former President Bush used extensively after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Al-Marri, a legal U.S. resident from Qatar, is under indictment in Peoria, Ill. He was studying at Bradley University when he was arrested in late 2001 as part of the investigation of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Legal Times has more.
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