WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court bowed out Friday of deciding whether the president has the power to imprison people in the U.S. indefinitely without a trial — avoiding a showdown the Obama administration did not want.
The court granted the administration’s request to dismiss the challenge to the president’s authority from suspected al-Qaeda sleeper agent Ali al-Marri, who was detained by the military for 5 1/2 years without charges.
The court’s order also wipes off the books the federal appeals court ruling al-Marri was challenging, which had affirmed the president’s power to detain people in the United States without trial.
Al-Marri will be transferred to civilian custody as soon as next week to face criminal charges of providing material support for terrorism.
The administration has been spared the unpalatable choice of defending the detention policies of the Bush administration, which candidate Barack Obama strongly criticized, or hurriedly renouncing a power that President Barack Obama has never claimed.
Obama has ordered a review of detention policies, including the designation of terrorism suspects as enemy combatants who could be held outside the civilian criminal justice system.
Jonathan Hafetz, the American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who represents al-Marri, said he would have preferred a Supreme Court ruling that finally settled the issue. But he was pleased the court did not leave in place the ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the president’s authority to detain people picked up inside the United States as enemy combatants.
Al-Marri, a native of Qatar, was studying at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., when he was arrested in late 2001 as part of the investigation of the Sept. 11 attacks. The government has said he met with Osama bin Laden and volunteered for whatever help al-Qaeda wanted. He arrived in the U.S. the day before the attacks.
Al-Marri was ordered to wreak havoc on U.S. banking and serve as a liaison for other al-Qaeda operatives, according to a court document.
