WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday over the objections of the Obama administration to hear a new appeal from Guantanamo Bay prisoners and decide whether a judge has the power to order the release of a detainee who is not a dangerous “enemy combatant.” A ruling on this issue could complicate the administration’s already troubled plans for closing the Guantanamo prison.
Until now, the government and some lower courts have maintained that a judge cannot force the release of a Guantanamo prisoner, even one who has won his legal appeal in a court hearing.
At issue now is whether it is a judge or the president who has the power to decide the fate of a foreigner who was held as a military prisoner. In addition, the court agreed Tuesday to decide whether, if a judge does have that power, he or she could order such a person released in the U.S. or whether, as the Obama administration maintains, it is an immigration issue under the purview of the government.
Last year, the high court said in a 5-4 ruling that the Guantanamo prisoners had a constitutional right to seek their freedom before a judge. By filing a writ of habeas corpus, they can ask a judge to decide whether the government has grounds for holding them as enemy combatants. But the justices stopped short of saying the judge also had the authority to order the release of an inmate who was not an enemy combatant.
The Bush administration and now the Obama administration balked at releasing into the U.S. several Uighurs — Muslims mainly from a region in northeastern China — who had been held at Guantanamo.
Since taking office early this year, the Obama administration has sought to find countries that will take these prisoners, but it has also maintained the view that the executive branch, not the judiciary, has the ultimate power in deciding how and when to release them.
The court will hear the case, Kiyemba vs. U.S., early next year.
Meanwhile, a plan to permit terrorist suspects held at Guantanamo to be shipped to U.S. soil to face trial was part of a larger $44.1 billion budget bill for the Homeland Security Department that passed the Senate by a 79-19 vote.
The measure already passed by the House now goes to Obama for his signature. The Guantanamo provision generally tracks the restrictions already in place that block release of detainees in the U.S. but permits them to be tried here. It requires the administration to develop a plan before any further transfers. It also requires 15 days’ notice before a transfer can occur and a certification that the prisoner does not represent a security risk.
Separately, a group of retired generals and veterans Tuesday launched a national campaign, “Close Gitmo Now,” exhorting Congress to reject the “failed Bush-Cheney policies.”
