Supreme Court Decides Terror Case on Technicality
Mon Jun 28, 2004 10:47 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court decided on Monday the case of terror suspect Jose Padilla on narrow procedural grounds and ruled a federal court in New York lacks jurisdiction over his case, a decision that does not reach the heart of the dispute.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that an American captured overseas in President Bush's war on terrorism cannot be held indefinitely in a U.S. military jail without a chance to contest the detention.
Four of the nine justices concluded that constitutional due process rights demand that a citizen held in the United States as an enemy combatant must be given "a meaningful opportunity" to contest case for his detention before a neutral party.
Two more justices agreed that the detention of American citizen Yaser Hamdi was unauthorized and that the terror suspect should have a real chance to offer evidence he is not an enemy combatant.