Supreme Court Should Hear Illegal Detention Case Of Ali Al-Marri

Issue Of Executive Power Abuse Must Still Be Resolved Despite Today’s Indictment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

NEW YORK – In its announcement that material support for terrorism charges were filed against Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, the Department of Justice today said that its Office of the Solicitor General will be “moving to dismiss al-Marri’s pending litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court.” The American Civil Liberties Union represents al-Marri in that case, Al-Marri v. Spagone.

Al-Marri is the only individual to be designated an “enemy combatant” by the Bush administration who is held in military detention on U.S. soil.

The following can be attributed to Jonathan Hafetz, attorney with the ACLU National Security Project and lead counsel in al-Marri’s Supreme Court case:

“The legal issues raised by the Supreme Court case are neither settled nor rendered moot by today’s indictment. We will continue to pursue Mr. al-Marri’s case to make sure that no American citizen or lawful resident will ever again be imprisoned without charge or trial. It is critical that the Court hears Mr. al-Marri’s case and categorically rejects the notion that any president has the sweeping authority to deprive individuals living in the United States of their most basic constitutional rights by designating them ‘enemy combatants.'”

Attorneys in Al-Marri v. Spagone are Hafetz, Steven R. Shapiro, Jameel Jaffer and Hina Shamsi of the ACLU; Andrew J. Savage, III of the law firm Savage & Savage, P.A.; John J. Gibbons and Lawrence S. Lustberg of the law firm Gibbons, P.C.; Mark A. Berman of the law firm Hartmann, Doherty, Rosa, Berman & Bulbulia LLC; Aziz Huq and Emily Berman of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law; and Sidney S. Rosdeitcher of the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP.

The ACLU’s Supreme Court brief is available online at: www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/38405lgl20090121.html

More information about Al-Marri v. Spagone, including legal documents, is available online at: www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/case_almarri.html