Judge Puts Off Military Tribunal Hearing

Judge Puts Off Military Tribunal Hearing
By TONI LOCY, Associated Press Writer

Friday, May 12, 2006

(05-12) 15:16 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --

A federal judge on Friday postponed a pretrial military hearing in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for a Saudi accused of being part of an al-Qaida bomb-making cell.
(snip)

The high court's term ends in late June or early July, when justices are expected to rule in the case of another Guantanamo Bay detainee, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who is challenging President Bush's power to create a separate system of justice for terrorism suspects.

Administration lawyers had argued Sullivan lacked authority to stop al-Sharbi's May 15 hearing because of a controversial law Congress passed late last year that proponents say requires the dismissal of hundreds of civil lawsuits filed on behalf of Guantanamo detainees.

"The government also claims that this brief delay would imperil the war effort," Sullivan wrote. "The government has not explained, however, why the court must adhere to the laws of war now, rather than wait a few weeks so that it may follow the rule of law, as it will be determined by the Supreme Court."
(snip/...)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/05/12/national/w151655D44.DTL

This is the case with the habeus issues that the 5 in SCOTUS got so excercised about a month or two ago. They did not seem to view the state's case too positively.