Skip Navigation
Marc Ambinder

Marc Ambinder - Marc Ambinder is the White House correspondent for National Journal and a contributing editor at The Atlantic. More

Marc Ambinder is the White House correspondent for National Journal. He previously served as the politics editor, and is now a contributing editor, for The Atlantic, where he curated the influential Politics channel on TheAtlantic.com and contributed to the magazine. He was also a chief political consultant to CBS News. Earlier, at NJ's Hotline, Ambinder was the founding editor of "Hotline On Call," a pathbreaking political news blog. He also worked as a producer and reporter for the ABC News Political Unit and was one of the founders of ABC's "The Note." Born in New York City, raised in Central Florida, Ambinder is a 2001 graduate of Harvard and lives in Washington, D.C.

Tribunals: An Excuse To Exhaust Habeas Rights For Indefinite Detainees?

By Marc Ambinder
May 15 2009, 9:13 AM ET Comment

This point has been overlooked in the first round of coverage about President Obama's decision to use military commission tribunals for some of the Gitmo detainees: according to an administration official, most of the remaining 241 detainees will be afforded Article III trials -- that is,  fully-fledged, regular trials, unless they're released without trial. Some of them might be shunted to a newly-created national security court, if the administration and Congress team up to create one.  The remaining detainees -- presumably dangerous folks who the administration wants to detain but who haven't had the right type of evidence accumulated against them -- will be tried by the military. The AP says about 20 military commissions will be held.

On first read, then, the military commissions are being used as a way to justify indefinite detention -- to create a means through which habeas corpus rights for these prisoners can be exercised (but not fully granted) and then exhausted.

One question: it's totally true that the criminality, so to speak, of the Gitmo detainees ranges from innocent to murderous.  Where does the administration draw the lines -- release, Article III, commission -- and in doing so, do the lines appear capricious enough to provoke the ire of the regular judicial system and Congress?


Presented by

More at The Atlantic

Why Joe Biden Needs to Stay Why Joe Biden Needs to Stay
Who Won the War Over Cory Booker? Who Won the War Over Cory Booker?
Go Small: Why Washington Must Give Up the Illusion of a Grand Bargain Why Washington Must Give Up the Illusion of a Grand Bargain
Why Israeli Settlers Shot an Unarmed Palestinian Why Israeli Settlers Shot an Unarmed Palestinian
Is Elizabeth Warren Native American or What? Is Elizabeth Warren Native American?

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register.
blog comments powered by Disqus
View All Correspondents

The Biggest Story in Photos

Earthquake in Northern Italy

May 22, 2012

Subscribe Now

SAVE 59%! 10 issues JUST $2.45 PER COPY

Facebook

Newsletters

Sign up to receive our free newsletters

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

Marc Ambinder
from the Magazine

The Ally From Hell

Pakistan lies. It hosted Osama bin Laden (knowingly or not). Its government is barely functional.…