"Does the public interest in national security allow the U.S. to detain aliens overseas indefinitely?" -Â Richard A. EpsteinÂ
Al-Maqaleh v. Gates is the latest chapter in this debate. In late May a panel for the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia--consisting of David Sentelle, a Reagan appointee; Harry Edwards, a Carter appointee; and David Tatel, a Clinton appointee--took another wrong turn in the road. Their unanimous decision held that three persons taken captive outside the U.S. and detained for over seven years at the United States' Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan could not challenge the legality of their detention in federal district court...
