ACLU welcomes al-Marri ruling

WASHINGTON, June 12 (UPI) -- The American Civil Liberties Union has expressed support for a ruling on the continued detention of terror suspect Ali al-Marri.

The ACLU issued its statement Monday, the same day that a U.S. federal appeals court ruled that the U.S. government had to end the military detention of Ali al-Marri, who is a legal U.S. resident. In the ruling, Judge Diana Gribbon Motz told the trial judge to send the U.S. Department of Defense a writ of habeas corpus to bring charges against al-Marri in regular courts, expel him from the United States or free him.

Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office, welcomed the ruling. "Now that the Fourth Circuit has spoken, it seems clear that the court believes the right of habeas corpus is part of what separates America from repressive countries," she said.

"To do away with this core American value makes us more like those we are fighting against. It is time for Congress to restore due process, defend the Constitution and protect what makes us Americans," Fredrickson said. "That is why thousands of Americans are coming to Washington, D.C., on June 26 to demand that Congress fix the Military Commissions Act."

"It is difficult to imagine a more complete repudiation of the administration's strategy of treating suspected terrorists as enemy soldiers who can be subject to indefinite detention by the military without charges or trial," said ACLU Legal Director Steven Shapiro. "Today's decision reinforces the importance of judicial review as a check on executive power, and highlights the need for Congress to restore the right to habeas corpus for all Guantanamo detainees."

The court wrote in its decision, "The president cannot eliminate constitutional protections with the stroke of a pen by proclaiming a civilian, even a criminal civilian, an enemy combatant subject to indefinite military detention."