Al-Marri v. Wright
| al-Marri v. Spagone | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Decided March 6, 2009 | |
| Full case name | Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, Petitioner v. Daniel Spagone, United States Navy Commander, Consolidated Naval Brig |
| Docket nos. | 08-368 |
| Citations | 555 U.S. 1220 (more)
129 S. Ct. 1545; 173 L. Ed. 2d 671; 2009 U.S. LEXIS 1777; 77 U.S.L.W. 3502; 21 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 701
|
| Prior history | Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit |
| Subsequent history | Dismissed as moot |
| Questions presented | |
| Whether U.S. residents can be imprisoned indefinitely for suspected wrongdoing without being charged with a crime and tried before a jury. | |
| Court membership | |
|
|
al-Marri v. Spagone, 555 U.S. 1220 (2009), was a legal case in which the United States Supreme Court had to decide whether individuals can be imprisoned indefinitely for suspected wrongdoing without being charged with a crime and tried before a jury. The case was dismissed as moot on March 6, 2009, by the application of the Acting Solicitor General to transfer petitioner from military custody to the custody of the Attorney General.
The Fourth Circuit had ruled that a United States resident cannot be held on suspicion of terrorist activities, but must be charged in a domestic court or released.
The federal government arrested Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri on December 12, 2001, and indicted him on charges two years later on apparently unrelated charges of credit card fraud and assorted crimes of dishonesty.
On June 23, 2003, President George W. Bush's administration determined al-Marri to be an enemy combatant and ordered him transferred to the custody of the U.S. Department of Defense. The federal government asserts he is a sleeper agent for the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, sent to the United States to explore disruptions of the country's financial systems. This was said to justify his detention without trial in civilian courts. Since that time, he has been held at the naval brig in Charleston, South Carolina. He is the only known enemy combatant to be held in military custody on U.S. soil (others are being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba).
...
Wikipedia