The White House is considering endorsing a law that would allow the indefinite detention of some alleged terrorists without trial as part of efforts to break a logjam with Congress over President Barack Obama’s plans to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Monday. Last summer, White House officials said they had ruled out seeking a “preventive detention” statute as a way to deal with anti-terror detainees, saying the administration would hold any Guantanamo prisoners brought to the U.S. in criminal courts or under the general “law of war” principles permitting detention of enemy combatants.
However, speaking at a news conference in Greenville, S.C., Monday, Graham said the White House now seems open to a new law to lay out the standards for open-ended imprisonment of those *** alleged *** to be members of or fighters for Al Qaeda or the Taliban.
“We’re beginning to look at the idea we need to change our laws, come up with better guidance” for judges handling cases of enemy combatants, Graham said. “I’ve been talking to the administration for the last couple of days. I’m encouraged that we’re going to sit down and do some of the hard things we haven’t done as a nation after Sept. 11.”
“I think we need to change our laws to give our judges better guidance — rules of the road,” Graham said. “We need a statute to deal with that.”
Asked whether the White House is again considering a preventive detention statute, spokesman Ben LaBolt said: “Sen. Graham has expressed interest in habeas reform and other policy ideas. We will review constructive proposals from Sen. Graham and other members of Congress that are consistent with the national security imperative that we close Guantanamo and ensure the swift and certain justice the families of victims have long deserved.”
Graham also suggested that administration officials who recently completed the review of all prisoners at Guantanamo believe that a new law would be a better way to keep those inmates locked up if they are transferred to the U.S.
“I think the Obama administration, after they looked at the cases at Guantanamo Bay, understands the need for a statute like that,” he said.
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