3.29.2006
Supreme Court Questions Military Trials (NYTimes.com)
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 28, 2006
Filed at 2:22 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A lawyer for Osama bin Laden's former driver urged the Supreme Court on Tuesday to curb President Bush's use of wartime powers to prosecute terror suspects held at a U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Attorney Neal Katyal, who represents Salim Ahmed Hamdan, told justices the military commissions established by the Pentagon on Bush's orders are flawed because they violate basic military justice protections.
''This is a military commission that is literally unburdened by the laws, Constitution and treaties of the United States,'' Katyal said.
Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito, the newest member of the court, pressed Katyal to explain why a defendant before a military commission should be given something that defendants in civilian criminal trials normally don't get -- the chance to challenge the case before a verdict is reached.
''If this were like a (civilian) criminal proceeding, we wouldn't be here,'' Katyal said.
Scalia's presence on the bench signaled his rejection of a request to recuse himself that was filed Monday by five retired generals who support Hamdan's arguments. In a letter to the court, the generals asked Scalia to withdraw from participating in the case because of remarks he made in a recent speech in Switzerland about ''enemy combatants.'' Speaking at the University of Freiberg in Switzerland on March 8, Scalia said foreigners waging war against the United States have no rights under the Constitution.
(More ... Supreme Court Questions Military Trials - New York Times) ¶ 08:03
Published: March 28, 2006
Filed at 2:22 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A lawyer for Osama bin Laden's former driver urged the Supreme Court on Tuesday to curb President Bush's use of wartime powers to prosecute terror suspects held at a U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Attorney Neal Katyal, who represents Salim Ahmed Hamdan, told justices the military commissions established by the Pentagon on Bush's orders are flawed because they violate basic military justice protections.
''This is a military commission that is literally unburdened by the laws, Constitution and treaties of the United States,'' Katyal said.
Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito, the newest member of the court, pressed Katyal to explain why a defendant before a military commission should be given something that defendants in civilian criminal trials normally don't get -- the chance to challenge the case before a verdict is reached.
''If this were like a (civilian) criminal proceeding, we wouldn't be here,'' Katyal said.
Scalia's presence on the bench signaled his rejection of a request to recuse himself that was filed Monday by five retired generals who support Hamdan's arguments. In a letter to the court, the generals asked Scalia to withdraw from participating in the case because of remarks he made in a recent speech in Switzerland about ''enemy combatants.'' Speaking at the University of Freiberg in Switzerland on March 8, Scalia said foreigners waging war against the United States have no rights under the Constitution.
(More ... Supreme Court Questions Military Trials - New York Times) ¶ 08:03
