American Civil Liberties Union

Yesterday, The New Yorker's Jane Mayer reported that a federal grand jury in Peoria, Illinois was preparing to bring criminal terrorism charges against Ali al-Marri, the ACLU's client in a challenge to his indefinite detention before the Supreme Court. When al-Marri was first arrested, he was indicted by a federal grand jury on credit card fraud charges, but a few weeks before his case was to go to trial, President Bush stepped in, named al-Marri an "enemy combatant," and locked him in solitary confinement in a South Carolina Navy brig for more than five years. Terrorism charges—or charges that would somehow legitimize his "enemy combatant" status—were never brought against al-Marri. Until now.

Last night, the House of Representatives voted to pass the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a bill that contains harmful provisions that some legislators have said could authorize the U.S. military to pick up and imprison without charge or trial civilians, including American citizens, anywhere in the world.

This week's New Yorker features a story by the incomparable Jane Mayer about the ACLU's case on behalf of Ali al-Marri, which will be heard by the Supreme Court in April, barring any Obama administration actions like dropping the "enemy combatant" classification and reclassifying, charging him as a civilian, and renouncing the asserted executive detention power.