The ACLU issued its statement Monday, the same day that a U.S. federal appeals court ruled that the U.S. government had to end the military detention of Ali al-Marri, who is a legal U.S. resident. In the ruling, Judge Diana Gribbon Motz told the trial judge to send the U.S. Department of Defense a writ of habeas corpus to bring charges against al-Marri in regular courts, expel him from the United States or free him.

"It is difficult to imagine a more complete repudiation of the administration's strategy of treating suspected terrorists as enemy soldiers who can be subject to indefinite detention by the military without charges or trial," said ACLU Legal Director Steven Shapiro. "Today's decision reinforces the importance of judicial review as a check on executive power, and highlights the need for Congress to restore the right to habeas corpus for all Guantanamo detainees."