al-Marri v. Wright

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al-Marri v. Wright No. 06-7427 (2007) was a decision of the Fourth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals that held a United States resident cannot be held on suspicion of terrorist activities, but must be charged in a domestic court or released.

1 Background
2 Decision
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Background

The federal government arrested Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri on December 12, 2001 and brought him up on charges two years later on apparently unrelated charges of credit card fraud and assorted crimes of dishonesty. On June 23, 2003, President George W. Bush determined al-Marri an enemy combatant and ordered him transferred to the custody of the Department of Defense.^[1] The federal government asserts he is a sleeper agent for the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, sent to the United States to explore future disruptions of the country's financial systems, thus justifying his detention without trial in civilian courts. Since that time, he has been held at a naval brig in Charleston, South Carolina, and is the only known enemy combatant held in military custody on U.S. soil (others are being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba).

[edit] Decision

Judge Diana Gribbon Motz wrote the majority opinion, which held that as a legal resident of the United States who was originally detained within the United States, al-Marri may not be held in military custody as an enemy combatant. The court also held that the Military Commissions Act does not strip federal courts of jurisdiction to hear habeas corpus petitions from alleged enemy combatants arrested and detained within the borders of the U.S. The court then ordered the government to either charge al-Marri with a crime, to initiate deportation proceedings, or to release him.

Dissenting from the opinion, Judge Henry E. Hudson indicated that he believed Bush possessed the authority to detain alleged sleeper agents such as al-Marri, "the type of stealth warrior used by Al Qaeda."^[2]