In a significant development, the Supreme Court has vacated the Fourth Circuit Court ruling in the al-Marri case that said the president had the authority to detain people captured on American soil indefinitely.
"We would have preferred a definitive ruling," said the ACLU's Jonathan Hafetz, "but the court sent a strong signal by vacating the 4th circuit decision, making it clear there’s no precedent to [detain people captured on American soil indefinitely as enemy combatants] in the future.”
The Center for American Progress' Ken Gude described the move as "a very good outcome of this case.”
"By the court not issuing a final declarative ruling, Gude said, "it allows the administration to work with Congress to attain specific legislative authority on who is detainable as an enemy combatant. All signs point to the Obama administration taking a more limited view of the president's ability to detain enemy combatants, certainly a more restrained view than the Bush administration was presenting."
-- A. Serwer
