ACLJ: Supreme Court Issues `Troubling' Decisions on War on Terrorism.

WASHINGTON -- The American Center for Law and Justice, which filed amicus briefs in support of the President and U.S. Government in three terrorism cases, said today's decisions by the Supreme Court clearing the way for those detained and captured in the war on terrorism to have access to U.S. courts is "troubling" and opens the door to the "alarming prospect of subjecting military decisions involving the war on terrorism to the federal courts."

"While the court affirmed the President's authority to declare terrorism suspects as enemy combatants, the decisions are troubling and open the door to the alarming prospect of subjecting military decisions involving the war on terrorism to the federal courts," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ, which filed amicus briefs in the cases. "By limiting the President's role as Commander-in-Chief, the high court interjects the federal judiciary into a process that is certain to result in chaos and confusion. The decisions will make it much more difficult to determine who is actually running the war on terrorism - hundreds of federal judges across the nation or the President of the United States."

The Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. government has the power to hold American citizens and foreign nationals without charges or trial, but that detainees can challenge their treatment in U.S. courts. The high court said the President has the authority to hold Yaser Hamdi, an enemy combatant being held by the U.S. after being captured on a battlefield abroad, but that Hamdi must have access to the U.S. court system. The Supreme Court said the same holds true for the hundreds of men born outside the U.S. and held indefinitely at a U.S. Navy prison in Cuba.

The ACLJ filed an amicus brief in the cases of Rasul v. Bush and Al Odah v. Bush contending that the detainees being held in Cuba - which include members of the Taliban and al-Qaeda - are unlawful combatants - and therefore not subject to the protections afforded by the Geneva Convention relative to the treatment of Prisoners of War. Further, the brief contends that President Bush, as Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Armed Forces, acted appropriately and constitutionally in ordering the detainees to be held in Cuba.

The ACLJ also filed amicus briefs in the two other terrorism cases involving Yaser Hamdi and Jose Padilla - two enemy combatants.

The American Center for Law and Justice, based in Washington, D.C., specializes in constitutional law and remains committed to upholding the integrity of our constitutional system of government based on the separation of powers. The ACLJ website address is www.aclj.org.