Enemy combatant ruling.

last updated 8 January 2015

Richmond, Va.

In a rebuff to President Bush’s anti-terrorism policies, a federal court ruled this week that the government could not hold a U.S. resident indefinitely without charging him or releasing him. The court ruled on the case of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, a Qatari national. He was living legally in the U.S. when he was arrested in December 2001 on suspicion of belonging to an al Qaida “sleeper cell.” Since then, the U.S. has held him in a naval prison in Charleston, S.C., without charging him. But a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court, based in Richmond, said the government could not detain Marri indefinitely simply by declaring him an “enemy combatant.” To do so, the court ruled, “would have disastrous consequences for the Constitution—and the country.” The Justice Department said it would appeal. While the legal process continues, Marri remains in the Charleston brig.