Reply #1: One Possible Legitimate Reason, Sir

[The Magistrate]

Is question regarding jurisdiction. Not all persons held are charged with acts that fit easily into characterization as violations of U.S. law. The cases you mention are all pretty clear-cut regarding the applicability of U.S. criminal law, having occurred on U.S. territory or property or involving U.S. citizens. One well-publicized case at Guantanamo concerns a person not a U.S. citizen, who was not on U.S. soil when he engaged in an act of violence against U.S. soldiers the U.S. government considered to be crime of war. It is hard to construct an interpretation of law bringing that under domestic criminal codes. A case like that is, under the Geneva accords, to be tried by a military court convened by the captor power. Such a military court, however, to be legitimate under that treaty, must be comparable to the court that would sit to hear charges against a member of its own military. The procedures established by the Bush administration for such courts clearly did not meet this test; the procedures promulgated recently by President Obama might well meet it, though whether they do or not is at present certainly open to debate. It is likely the matter will be litigated through the Federal courts, and we shall see what rulings issue.