Another sign that the apocalypse has arrived for the Bush Administration: Co-founder of the conservative Federalist Society, Steven Calabresi, is now arguing that an "enemy combatant", suspected al Qaeda sleeper agent Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, has a right to seek his freedom in court.
The irony is that Mr. Calabresi is the man that popularized the so-called "unitary executive theory" which has been used by the Bush Administration as the justification for a litany of abuses, including the warrantless domestic surveillance program, and signing statements used to take the teeth out of laws covering (you guessed it) the detention of enemy combatants and torture.
It's not every day that conservative lawyers Steven Calabresi and Richard A. Epstein agree with Clinton administration Attorney General Janet Reno or former American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Burt Neuborne.
Yet the conservatives joined their outspoken liberal colleagues Tuesday in arguing that an immigrant held as an enemy combatant has a right to seek his freedom in court -- another instance in which the Bush administration's anti-terrorism policies have united libertarians and liberal Democrats.
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Twenty-nine law school professors from around the country filed a legal brief Tuesday with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., arguing that the government's treatment of suspected al-Qaida sleeper agent Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri was unconstitutional.
http://www.chron.com/...
Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri is unique in the fact that he is the only "enemy combatant" known to be held inside the United States. He is a citizen of Qatar who was in the U.S. as a student in December 2001 when he was arrested. He was classified as an enemy combatant in 2003 and is alleged to have been part of a planned "second wave" of al Qaeda attacks. Lawsuits filed on Al-Marri's behalf allege gratuitous cruelty throughout his detention.
If a guy like Calabresi is arguing that a guy like Al-Marri should have his day in court, how much longer will it be until John Yoo is the only man left standing? It's looking to me like Dubya better hang on for a bumpy ride on the legal front for the next two years...