A closely divided Supreme Court said today it would not decide whether Guantanamo prisoners have the right to challenge their confinement before US federal judges, avoiding a test of President George W. Bush's powers in the war on terrorism.
Over the strongly worded dissent of three justices, the high court said it would not rule on the constitutionality of part of an anti-terrorism law that Mr Bush pushed through the US Congress last year that takes away the right of the prisoners to get judicial review of their detention.
The justices declined to hear two appeals by prisoners seeking to overturn a lower court ruling in February. The lower court decision said lawsuits challenging the prisoners' detentions must be dismissed.
The Supreme Court in 2004 and 2006 rejected the Bush administration's position on Guantanamo prisoners.
There are about 385 prisoners at the US naval base in Cuba. The first prisoners arrived more than five years ago after the United States launched its war on terrorism in response to the September 11th attacks.
The high court acted shortly after a US military tribunal at Guantanamo convicted Australian al Qaeda trainee David Hicks of providing material support for terrorism, the first conviction there.
The indefinite detention and allegations of prisoner mistreatment at Guantanamo, which the US military denies, have tarnished the United States' image abroad and a chorus of allies have urged Bush to shut down the camp for foreign terrorism suspects.
Justices Stephen Breyer, David Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented. "I believe these questions deserve this court's immediate attention," Justice Breyer wrote.
Justice John Paul Stevens and Anthony Kennedy issued a separate statement saying rejection of the appeals "does not constitute any opinion on the merits" of the dispute.
They said the prisoners can bring appeals to the Supreme Court later if the administration unreasonably delays their proceedings.
Attorneys for the prisoners had said the ruling by a US appeals court upholding the law conflicted with decisions by the Supreme Court in 2004 and 2006 that said the detainees could get a hearing before a federal judge.
They said the cases involved a "watershed challenge" to Mr Bush's authority.