WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday refused the request of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega to block his extradition to France, where he faces drug charges similar to those that have kept him in a U.S. prison.
The court gave no reason for turning down the appeal, and Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia objected. They said the case of Noriega, the only person being held as a prisoner of war by the United States, raises important questions about how the courts should handle cases arising from the government’s attempt to prosecute terrorists.
“Providing that guidance in this case would allow us to say what the law is without the unnecessary delay and other complications that could burden a decision on these questions in Guantanamo or other detainee litigation arising out of the conflict with al-Qaeda,” Thomas wrote.
Noriega was ousted after the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989. He was convicted of drug racketeering and other charges in 1992 and was sentenced to prison. The judge in that trial also declared him a prisoner of war.
Just before his sentence ended in 2007, the United States filed papers supporting France’s request that he be extradited there to face drug charges. Courts there had convicted him in absentia, but France promised a new trial.
Noriega contended the Geneva Conventions meant that prisoners of war had to be returned to their home countries. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta said federal law did not allow Noriega to rely on the treaties to challenge the extradition, and that is the ruling the Supreme Court decided not to review.
The case is Noriega vs. Pastrana.
Other Supreme Court action
• Crime lab results: The court indicated Monday that it was not ready to re-examine a decision announced at the end of last term that said defendants have the right to challenge crime-lab results by questioning the analysts who prepared them.
• Appeal refused: Justices refused Monday to hear the appeal of a convicted killer and rapist whose taunting letter detailing the crimes to a Virginia prosecutor led to a second trial and helped put him on death row.
The decision clears the way for the execution of Paul Warner Powell, 31, who was convicted of killing Stacie Reed, 16, and raping her sister, Kristie, 14, in their Manassas home in 1999. He claimed he was unconstitutionally tried twice for the same crime.
• Cigarette taxes: The court ruled Monday against New York City in its effort to use federal racketeering law to sue Internet cigarette sellers for lost tax revenue.
• Reversal sought: The court was asked Monday by Halliburton Co. to block a Texas woman’s lawsuit alleging she was raped by military contractor co-workers in Iraq.
The company wants the justices to reverse a lower court ruling that the case can go to trial. Halliburton says the contract signed by its workers requires claims to be settled through arbitration, not trial.
Denver Post wire services
