Attorney General: Enemy combatants have constitutional right to challenge their detention

Attorney General Michael Mukasey speaking at the American Enterprise Institute [AEI] today called on Congress to act on detainees at Guantanamo Bay possibly trying to usurp the court system. Under the rules of habeas corpus, the 270 detainees at Guantanamo Bay have a constitutional right to challenge their detentions. The overriding issue facing the judicial system at the moment is when they are allowed to pursue legal action under habeas corpus. Mukasey called on Congress to draft legislation that would “act to resolve these difficult questions that have been left unanswered.”

Mukasey believes that under the modernization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [FISA] the next administration will have what they need to “get the job done,” said Mukasey. According to Mukasey, the passage and ultimate signature of the president on FISA “shows how our branches of government can work together.” But Mukasey was quick to reiterate the administrations support not only on FISA but on detaining enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay. “The United States has every right to detain enemy combatants who wish the United States harm,” said Mukasey.

Aiming more of his remarks at Congress Mukasey called on Congress to “reaffirm for the duration of the conflict [In Iraq and Afghanistan] the ability to detain enemy combatants.” Mukasey closed by saying that “Congress should make sure that the detainees cannot use other alternatives to challenge their detainment.”