| Long article, just the first few paragraphs here. |
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday will begin to consider whether the Bush administration, in its drive to prevent more terrorist attacks after Sept. 11, devised a wartime legal strategy that went too far in restricting civil liberties. The cases coming before the court involve two types of captives in the war on terrorism: foreigners who were caught on a battlefield abroad and who have been held for more than two years at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba without being charged; and two U.S. citizens who are being confined indefinitely in a military brig in Charleston, S.C.
The Bush administration has labeled all of them "enemy combatants," and says the detentions are necessary to stop future terrorist plots. The cases test whether the Guantanamo detainees should have access to U.S. courts to challenge their detentions, and whether the president, on his own, can order U.S. citizens locked up without charges and access to a lawyer or a hearing. Together, the cases raise fundamental questions about judges' ability to check presidential power, and about basic legal protections for captured foreigners and for U.S. citizens accused of betraying this country.
Rulings in the cases could go a long way toward shaping the legal contours for what could be a lengthy war on terrorism. They also will help define the legacy of the court led by conservative Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
The hearings at the court will feature the drama of a Sept. 11 widower, U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson, arguing for broad presidential authority to lock up people to protect national security. Before Olson will be nine justices who shared in the panic that swept Washington on 9/11. Several justices have poignant, personal memories of wartime experiences. All but one — Clarence Thomas, at 55 the youngest justice — came of age during World War II or the Korean War.
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