Obama administration won’t seek new law for indefinite detention of terror suspects
By APThursday, September 24, 2009
Obama won’t seek new law for terror detentions
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will not seek a new law spelling out how it can hold terror suspects indefinitely without bringing charges.
Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd says the administration has informed Congress it does not believe new laws are necessary to hold the remaining inmates at Guantanamo Bay or future detainees. Some detainees have challenged their imprisonment with civil lawsuits in U.S. federal courts, and the administration says that process provides fair judicial review of their cases.
Boyd said Thursday that the government’s authority to hold someone indefinitely without charge will be based on the congressional military force authorization passed after the 2001 terror attacks. The Washington Post first reported the decision in Thursday’s editions.