President Bush, admitting for the first time the existence of CIA-run prisons, announced the relocation of fourteen top terrorism suspects to Guantanamo Bay, where they and 450 other detainees will face a war crimes tribunal.

The Supreme Court rebuffs the Bush administration in a 5-3 ruling over the rights of a terror suspect at Guantanamo Bay. The decision deals a blow to the White House's efforts to create military tribunals.

CFR Adjunct Fellow Noah Feldman, discussing the legal issues at stake in the upcoming Hamdan decision, says the case will decide whether military tribunals are constitutionally sufficient and warns that if the Supreme Court rules current trial procedures inadequate, it may be difficult to try many of the nearly 500 Guantanamo detainees.

The Supreme Court began considering the legality of the military commissions established to try Guantanamo Bay detainees on March 28, when it took up the case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. It is the latest court battle to be fought in the legally troublesome "war on terror."

The prosecution of alleged terrorists in U.S. civilian criminal courts and in new military tribunals has been fraught with controversy. U.S. federal courts have gradually asserted their role in the military tribunal process, and a case before the U.S. Supreme Court could make a major statement about the power of the U.S. presidency in prosecuting the war on terror.