Attorney General Says Congress Should Provide Direction On Detainees
Attorney General Michael Mukasey said today that Congress should provide direction on the handling of detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay. Speaking before the conservative Washington, D.C.-based group, the American Enterprise Institute, Mukasey said Congress should pass legislation providing direction on how classified information should be handled during court proceedings of the detainees and “to ensure that the proceedings mandated by the Supreme Court are conducted in a responsible and prompt way.”
In June, the high court in a 5-4 ruling said that the detainees have a constitutional right to challenge their detentions in federal court. Challenges from detainees are pending in a D.C. federal court. Beyond urging Congress to pass legislation, Mukasey, The Washington Post reported, said the federal government should be allowed to hold detainees indefinitely as long as the “War on Terror” is being waged. Critics of the administration’s treatment of the prisoners, maintained new legislation would only add to delay of trials and spur more litigation. A panel discussion, “Ensuring Access to Justice for Detainees in the ‘War on Terror,’” from the 2008 ACS National Convention can be seen here.