The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

James Freedland, (212) 519-7829 or 549-2666; media@aclu.org

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

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

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

The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

(212) 549-2666