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Supreme Court Will Hear Gitmo Cases

Aired November 10, 2003 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KAGAN: The Supreme Court says it will hear appeals from war detainees locked away in Guantanamo Bay. They say they are being held unlawfully. The U.S. says the detainees are al Qaeda and Taliban loyalists and are enemy combatants.
The case could be a legal test of the Bush administration's war on terror. Our Bob Franken is tracking the story. He's live with us from Washington with the latest. Bob, good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, let me use legal terminology. This case is huge. The fact is is that there has been an ongoing debate about whether the U.S. judicial system should get involved in putting checks on the executive branch, the president, on the conduct of a war. And this is the first case that is going to deal with it.

However, in its order, saying that the Supreme Court had granted certiorari, that is to say four of the nine justices that agreed to hear the case, at least four of them, they said that the case would be limited to the following question -- whether United States courts lack jurisdiction to consider challenges to the legality of detention of foreign nationals captured abroad in connection with hostilities and incarcerated at the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba. They are limiting themselves to questions about the detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

And the fundamental question, is do U.S. courts have jurisdiction over the conduct of the United States when it is done in another country. The fact of the matter is is that by international law, Guantanamo Bay, in spite of the fact that it has been occupied by the United States, is still a part of Cuba. If you leave Guantanamo Bay to come to the U.S., you need a passport.

Lower courts have ruled that as a result, the conduct of the U.S. in Guantanamo Bay is not something that can be decided by the U.S. judicial system. The court has said it wants to clarify that issue and so it's going to decide whether that is so.

As I said, that is part of a larger issue. The U.S. has said that, in fact, the president has said that it is the exclusive right or near exclusive right of the executive branch, that is to say the president, to decide on the conduct of war.

Now, of course, Guantanamo Bay has been controversial around the world, since the very beginning, since all the images of Camp X-Ray and charges around the world that the United States was mistreating, in violation of international law, mistreating those that U.S. called detainees, that everybody else called prisoners. There are two cases involved, one involves people who are residents of the British Commonwealth, the United States -- excuse me, the United Kingdom and Australia. And other case involved Kuwaiti.

They've been consolidated into one case. There will be one hour of argument -- one hour of argument at a time to be determined. But, again, the U.S. Supreme Court, for the first time, has decided to take on a case that has to do with the U.S. conduct in the war on terrorism -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Bob Franken in Washington, D.C. He'll continue to rack that one throughout the day. Thank you for that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired November 10, 2003 - 11:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KAGAN: The Supreme Court says it will hear appeals from war detainees locked away in Guantanamo Bay. They say they are being held unlawfully. The U.S. says the detainees are al Qaeda and Taliban loyalists and are enemy combatants.
The case could be a legal test of the Bush administration's war on terror. Our Bob Franken is tracking the story. He's live with us from Washington with the latest. Bob, good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, let me use legal terminology. This case is huge. The fact is is that there has been an ongoing debate about whether the U.S. judicial system should get involved in putting checks on the executive branch, the president, on the conduct of a war. And this is the first case that is going to deal with it.

However, in its order, saying that the Supreme Court had granted certiorari, that is to say four of the nine justices that agreed to hear the case, at least four of them, they said that the case would be limited to the following question -- whether United States courts lack jurisdiction to consider challenges to the legality of detention of foreign nationals captured abroad in connection with hostilities and incarcerated at the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba. They are limiting themselves to questions about the detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

And the fundamental question, is do U.S. courts have jurisdiction over the conduct of the United States when it is done in another country. The fact of the matter is is that by international law, Guantanamo Bay, in spite of the fact that it has been occupied by the United States, is still a part of Cuba. If you leave Guantanamo Bay to come to the U.S., you need a passport.

Lower courts have ruled that as a result, the conduct of the U.S. in Guantanamo Bay is not something that can be decided by the U.S. judicial system. The court has said it wants to clarify that issue and so it's going to decide whether that is so.

As I said, that is part of a larger issue. The U.S. has said that, in fact, the president has said that it is the exclusive right or near exclusive right of the executive branch, that is to say the president, to decide on the conduct of war.

Now, of course, Guantanamo Bay has been controversial around the world, since the very beginning, since all the images of Camp X-Ray and charges around the world that the United States was mistreating, in violation of international law, mistreating those that U.S. called detainees, that everybody else called prisoners. There are two cases involved, one involves people who are residents of the British Commonwealth, the United States -- excuse me, the United Kingdom and Australia. And other case involved Kuwaiti.

They've been consolidated into one case. There will be one hour of argument -- one hour of argument at a time to be determined. But, again, the U.S. Supreme Court, for the first time, has decided to take on a case that has to do with the U.S. conduct in the war on terrorism -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Bob Franken in Washington, D.C. He'll continue to rack that one throughout the day. Thank you for that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com