Bush Administration Asks Top U.S. Court To Dismiss Terror Case

Bush Administration Asks Top U.S. Court to Dismiss Terror Case

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Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The Bush administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to cancel a scheduled showdown over the use of military tribunals to try terrorism suspects, saying a new law stripped the court of power to consider the case.

In a request filed today in Washington, U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement said the court should dismiss an appeal by Yemenese national Salim Ahmed Hamdan, accused of being Osama bin Laden's driver and bodyguard. The justices in November agreed to hear Hamdan's case and are scheduled to resolve it by July.

The new law ``in plain terms removes the court's jurisdiction to hear this action,'' Paul Clement wrote.

A dismissal would eliminate a threat to the administration's plan for dealing with more than 500 inmates at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, most of them captured in the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Hamdan says that President George W. Bush lacked authority to set up the tribunals and that the procedures would violate the Geneva Convention protections for prisoners of war.

The tribunals don't offer all the rights afforded to U.S. criminal defendants. They permit exclusion of the accused from parts of the proceeding, allow witness statements in place of sworn testimony, and direct appeals to either the defense secretary or president, Hamdan's lawyers say.

The new law, known as the Detainee Treatment Act, was signed by Bush on Dec. 30. It would funnel any appeal by Guantanamo inmates of a military tribunal's decision to a federal appeals court in Washington and limit the issues that court could consider.

Arguments Likely
One of Hamdan's lawyers, Tom Goldstein of Goldstein & Howe in Washington, said the Supreme Court probably won't rule on the government's motion until after hearing arguments, probably in March or April.

``Nothing's going to happen immediately,'' he said in an interview.

Hamdan in December filed papers seeking to use a different procedural device, the court's power to issue so-called writs of habeas corpus, to ensure the justices can address the substance of the case.

More than 300 Guantanamo detainees have cases currently pending in federal court, Clement said in his filing today. He said the cases ``collectively have consumed enormous resources and disrupted the operation of Guantanamo during time of war.''

The Justice Department says Hamdan, who says he is about 36, served as a bodyguard for bin Laden, as well as his personal driver from 1996 to 2001. The government also contends Hamdan delivered weapons and ammunition to al-Qaeda members.

Hamdan says he was captured while trying to flee Afghanistan and return to Yemen with his family.

The case is Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 05-184.