Washington – Former Attorney General Janet Reno and seven other former Justice Department officials filed court papers Monday arguing that the Bush administration is setting a dangerous precedent by trying a suspected terrorist outside the court system.
It was the first time that Reno, attorney general in the Clinton administration, has spoken out against the administration’s policies on terrorism detainees, underscoring how contentious the court fight over the new military commissions law has become.
Suspected al-Qaeda sleeper agent Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri is the only detainee being held in the United States.
The former prosecutors challenged the Justice Department’s right to bring al-Marri before a military commission.
The Justice Department said in court papers last week that the new anti-terrorism law strips detainees such as al-Marri of the right to challenge their imprisonment in court.
The al-Marri matter is one of three appeals-court cases that will help determine the scope of the military commissions law.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales defended the handling of the detainees in a speech last weekend. “What is extraordinary … is how much – not how little – our law protects enemy combatants,” he said.
