Justice Department to change enemy combatant policy

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In a major rejection of the administration’s policy on enemy combatants, an appeals court ordered the Pentagon to free an enemy combatant today.

A U.S. federal appeals court today has ruled that the federal government cannot legally detain a US resident who is a suspected AlQaeda terrorist without charging them. Washington (eCanadaNow) - In a major rejection of the administration’s policy on enemy combatants, an appeals court ordered the Pentagon to free an enemy combatant today.

A U.S. federal appeals court today has ruled that the federal government cannot legally detain a US resident who is a suspected AlQaeda terrorist without charging them.

Al-Marri has been held in solitary confinement in the Navy brig in Charleston, S.C., since June 2003. The Qatar native has been detained since his December 2001 arrest at his home in Peoria, Ill., where he moved with his wife and five children a day before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to study for a master's degree at Bradley University.

"This is a landmark victory for the rule of law and a defeat for unchecked executive power," al-Marri's lawyer, Jonathan Hafetz, said in a statement. "It affirms the basic constitutional rights of all individuals _ citizens and immigrants _ in the United States."

However, the ruling does not mean al-Marri, who has been held in the Navy brig in Charleston, S.C., since June 2003, is free on all charges, but rather should face criminal charges in the civilian court system. Al-Marri, a Qatar native, has been detained since his December 2001 arrest at his home in Peoria, Illinois, and is the only U.S. resident held as an enemy combatant within the U.S.

In a statement released earlier today, the court panel said, "To sanction such presidential authority to order the military to seize and indefinitely detain civilians, even if the President calls them 'enemy combatants,' would have disastrous consequences for the constitution - and the country."


In the majority opinion ruling, Judge Diana G. Motz wrote, "The MCA was not intended to, and does not apply to aliens like al-Marri, who have legally entered, and are seized while legally residing in, the United States."