War on Terror, Executive Power

Administration urges dismissal of detainee lawsuits over Guantanamo detention

By TONI LOCY Associated Press Writer

(AP) - WASHINGTON-Faced with hundreds of claims by detainees at Guantanamo Bay, a federal appeals court is pressing the Bush administration to say how much power it thinks judges will have to determine the legality of the detentions.

The three-judge panel is being asked to decide whether the Detainee Treatment Act, signed by President George W. Bush on Dec. 30, retroactively voids hundreds of lawsuits by abolishing a right to challenge detentions that has been part of U.S. legal principles since the nation's founding.

Judges David B. Sentelle and A. Raymond Randolph seemed willing to accept the administration's view that the act forces dismissal of more than 200 lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court here on behalf of more than 300 detainees.

No one on the panel, however, appeared to agree with the administration's take on what would happen next should detainees seek essentially to transfer their challenges to the appeals court.

Also related to the Administration's far-reaching claims of presidential authority is action in the senate: one measure seeks to ratify executive-oredered wiretapping, while Senator Specter is still interested in holding hearings.

Bill Would Allow Warrantless Spying
GOP Plan Would Bring Surveillance Under Review of Congress, FISA Court

By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 17, 2006; Page A05

The Bush administration could continue its policy of spying on targeted Americans without obtaining warrants, but only if it justifies the action to a small group of lawmakers, under legislation introduced yesterday by key Republican senators.

The four senators hope to settle the debate over National Security Agency eavesdropping on international communications involving Americans when one of the parties is suspected of terrorist ties. President Bush prompted a months-long uproar when he said that constitutional powers absolve him of the need to seek warrants in such cases, even though the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act requires warrants for domestic wiretaps.

It is far from clear whether the bill can win passage. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) -- whose panel plays a major role in the surveillance matter -- pointed his thumb down yesterday when asked about the measure. He said he particularly objects to letting the government "do whatever the hell it wants" for 45 days without seeking judicial or congressional approval.