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Saturday, March 07, 2009

Habeus Corpus Restored in the USA

McJoan explains

The SCOTUS has vacated the 4th circuit court of appeals ruling which upheld the power of President George W. Bush to indefinitely detain Ali al-Marri, a legal resident in the U.S. on a student visa at the time of his arrest nearly six years ago. The court also dismissed the case as moot, per the Department of Justice request.

[snip]

That statement from the Justice Department's brief, that the government would accept having the 4th circuit ruling vacated, is key, and indicates that the Obama administration will not make the same extraordinary claims as its predecessor to the right to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens and lawful residents as enemy combatants without charges or trial. While it would have been preferable to have the Supreme Court rule definitively on this claim of executive power, it is no longer a binding precedent.

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