Detainees Can't Challenge Confinement

The Associated Press reports that federal judge threw out a lawsuit by foreign-born terror suspects challenging their detention in Guantanamo Bay. ruling that last year's landmark Supreme Court ruling did not provide them the legal basis to win their freedom:

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that Congress had authorized the president to order the detention of "enemy combatants" for the duration of the war on terror.

The lawsuit by seven of the roughly 550 detainees being held at the U.S. Navy base failed to show valid legal grounds to overturn that power, Leon said. As a result, the proper place to contest their detainment is before military review boards, not federal courts.

The government's lawyers have argued that the detainees have no rights at all, so their challenges should be dismissed outright. Judge Leon agreed.

This is the first time a federal judge has denied all relief in the dozens of cases filed by Guantanamo detainees.

Judge Leon's decision is available in PDF format here, courtesy of How Appealing.