WASHINGTON, March 26 (UPI) -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has commented publicly on some issues likely to come up in arguments over the rights of Guantanamo detainees.
Scalia, in a speech at the University of Freiburg in Switzerland, suggested that the detainees are not protected by either the U.S. Constitution or the Geneva Conventions, Newsweek reported. The magazine obtained a tape recording of his talk.
"War is war, and it has never been the case that when you captured a combatant you have to give them a jury trial in your civil courts," he said. "Give me a break."
Scalia also suggested he has a personal interest because his son, Matthew, served with the U.S. military in Iraq.
Samantha Besson, a Freiburg professor, said the lecture provoked "quite an uproar."
Hamdi vs. Rumsfeld -- a dispute over the president's authority to detain enemy combatants -- is on the court's docket this week.
Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights suggested Scalia should recuse himself from the case.
"I can't recall an instance where I've heard a judge speak so openly about a case that's in front of him -- without hearing the arguments," he said.
