Jamie McCarthy pointed out:
Amendment VI to the U.S. Constitution:
“…the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public
trial… and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.”
ABC News story:
[Al Muhajir, a U.S. citizen] “has been barred access to legal assistance. White House officials say he may never come to trial.”
Eugene Volokh quotes “an anonymous but extremely knowledgeable correspondent”:
On the points made about the detention of the dirty bomber, I think this case is instructive: In re Territo, 156 F 2d 142 (9th Cir 1946), [which holds] that a citizen who is an enemy belligerent [there, a prisoner of war] can be held without trial for the duration of the war. The only question is whether the Executive’s determination of belligerent status is subject to habeas [corpus] review. I believe that it is, and should be, and I predict that the dirty bomber will seek habeas, and that the Executive will present its evidence, and that the federal courts will determine that he is in fact an enemy belligerent subject to detention without trial.
However, a war that very likely will never end would seem to throw the precedential value of this opinion into question.
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