From the AP: “U.S. citizens suspected of terror ties might be detained indefinitely and barred from access to civilian courts under legislation proposed by the Bush administration.”

  • This is apparently an attempted end run around the Supreme Court’s Hamdan decision, which barred Bush’s military tribunals.

    • AP:

    U.S. citizens suspected of terror ties might be detained indefinitely and barred from access to civilian courts under legislation proposed by the Bush administration, say legal experts reviewing an early version of the bill.

    A 32-page draft measure is intended to authorize the Pentagon’s tribunal system, established shortly after the 2001 terrorist attacks to detain and prosecute detainees captured in the war on terror. The tribunal system was thrown out last month by the Supreme Court.

    Administration officials, who declined to comment on the draft, said the proposal was still under discussion and no final decisions had been made.

    Senior officials are expected to discuss a final proposal before the Senate Armed Services Committee next Wednesday.

    According to the draft, the military would be allowed to detain all “enemy combatants” until hostilities cease. The bill defines enemy combatants as anyone “engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners who has committed an act that violates the law of war and this statute.”

    Link

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