Shadow Falls Over U.S. Military Tribunals

Shadow Falls Over U.S. Military Tribunals
By ANDREW SELSKY, Associated Press Writer

Wednesday, April 5, 2006
(04-05) 13:47 PDT GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) --

A shadow of uncertainty has crept over U.S. military war crimes trials of suspected terrorists as the Supreme Court deliberates a detainee's challenge of the process.

"I could be looking for a job come June," said Air Force Col. Morris Davis, the chief military prosecutor.

Pretrial hearings on this isolated military base are slowly proceeding, even as some Supreme Court justices appear troubled by plans to hold the war-crimes trials and angered by the government's claim that a new law deprives them of the authority to hear this particular detainee's challenge.
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The new law also says courts cannot hear "any action against the United States or its agent" relating to Guantanamo Bay detainees. The law gives only the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit narrow oversight powers.

Critics say the Bush administration's move to curtail the judiciary's oversight of the military tribunals threatens American principals.

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