In today's news the Supreme Court dismissed a challenge by suspected al-Qaida sleeper agent Ali al-Marri to the president's authority to detain people without charges, granting an Obama administration request to end the high court case when Mr al-Marri was transfered to a civil jail under civil indictment.
It is a small item in a way but consider the following. Mr al-Marri is accused of being an al-Quaida sleeper agent. He has been held without charge in a military prison for 5 1/2 years! At the time of his arrest he was a legal resident of the US. Mr Obama did not renounce the use of preventive detention and choose not to take a position in the case.
I am not in any way soft on terriorism or terriorist. Indeed, I would not hesitate to be on Mr al-Marri's jurry or to report a guilty verdic consistent with the evidence that lead to his death.
Still, I am troubled by the notion that the US government can arrest someone and hold them without trial for 5 1/2 hears. This goes straight to the issue of protections afforded to US citizens (it appears that al-Marri is not a citizen, only a legal resident) under the consititution and law. It speaks to the issue can a visitor to the US be held indefinitely in controvention of laws that would not allow a US citizen to be held? It would seem that the Supreme Court and our new President would prefer not to answer that question. That's more than a little shameful.
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