The United States Supreme Court decided Tuesday (WashPost) to consider whether judges should be able to release Guantánamo Bay detainees into the United States if they are considered not to be "enemy combatants."
The court's decision to hear the case involving a group of Chinese Muslims known as Uighurs could complicate (AP) the Obama administration's plans to close the military prison in January.
The Obama administration says the decision to release detainees should be reserved to the executive branch and that decisions about whether detainees should be shipped to the United States should be decided both by Congress and the executive branch. Lawyers for the Uighurs argue against (WashPost) restricting what judges may do to release freed detainees, based on a 2008 court decision Boumediene v. Bush.
Analysis
By taking on the case, the Supreme Court is putting itself in a position to make the decision (LA Times) on whether the executive branch can keep holding a prisoner even if the courts have found him not to be a threat.
The case could fizzle out if the Uighurs are resettled in other countries before it is heard and decided sometime after January. That gives the Obama administration months to find places (NPR) for the detained men.
Background
A CFR Backgrounder examines the legal and security issues surrounding the closure of Guantánamo.
A CFR working paper by Daniel Prieto warns that the United States lacks a comprehensive framework for dealing with transnational terrorism.