The US Supreme Court on Monday rejected two appeals by prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba seeking to challenge their detentions in federal court, according to dpa. The high court ruled 6-3 against hearing the case, citing a congressional law last year that barred federal judges from hearing habeas corpus petitions in connection to inmates at the controversial Guantanamo facility. In rejecting the appeals, the six consenting judges said that be doing so they were not expressing "any opinion on the merits" of the detainees' case. The three dissenting judges argued that the legal status of the detainees was a crucial matter for the court to consider. "These questions deserve this court's immediate attention," the judges wrote. The Supreme Court in July 2006 ruled that the military commission for trying terrorist suspects was illegal and required explicit congressional authorization. Late last year Congress approved the Military Commission Act of 2006 to give President George W Bush the power to conduct the tribunals.
