VOA标准英语2009-Attorneys for Enemy Combatants See Signs of

By Kane Farabaugh
Peoria, Illinois
11 November 2009
 
Ali Al Marri in prison
Convicted al-Qaida conspirator¹ Ali Al Marri now faces more than eight years in prison for his role in the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. He originally faced a longer term, but his sentence was reduced after details of his detention² at a military prison in South Carolina were disclosed. Attorneys representing detainees at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are looking at the Al Marri case as an example that might help their clients.

This video of al-Qaida agent Ali Al Marri at the U.S. Navy prison in Charleston, South Carolina gives a rare glimpse into his living conditions while detained as an enemy combatant.

But the video, and other evidence of his treatment and threats to his family in Saudi Arabia helped him to get a reduced sentence.

U.S. District Judge Michael Mihm called Al Marri's treatment in U.S. custody³ "unacceptable." 

"In the future, other lawyers, maybe even us, will cite this case," said Lawrence Lustberg.

 
Lawrence Lustberg
Attorney Lawrence Lustberg says Al Marri's sentence sets a precedent⁴ for other cases that have yet to make their way through the U.S. legal system.

"I think other lawyers will quite correctly cite Judge Mihm's reasoning which is that it just is wrong and unfair to have someone spend all that time in custody for precisely⁵ the same thing and not get any credit towards your sentence for that," he said.

'It's good news that the judge looked at the circumstances in reducing his sentence," said H. . Candace Gorman.

Chicago attorney H. Candace Gorman watched the Al Marri hearings.
She represents two detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba - a Libyan and an Algerian. Gorman says they have endured many of the same detention conditions as Ali Al Marri.

"The 24-hour isolation⁶, the no moving around without goggles⁷ and ear blinders and the lack of human contact for years," she said.

 
H. Candace Gorman 
However, Gorman says she is disappointed by the Al Marri case because his guilty plea means his case will not be heard by the U.S. Supreme⁸ Court. She says that means her clients remain in legal limbo⁹.

"It shows us what can happen in these plea deals," said Gorman. "One of the disappointing things, although I certainly don't blame Al Marri or his attorneys, is that it didn't get to go up to the Supreme Court for this whole incarceration¹⁰ of him for at least eight years to be found unconstitutional, that would have been the best victory."

Paul Lermack is a political science professor at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, the school that Ali Al Marri attended in the 1980s. He agrees with Gorman, but says the Al Marri's case is not the end of the debate over how to deal with enemy combatants.

"It may end in Al Marri's case in the sense that he will accept it and not appeal further, but the question of how to treat people like this is still continuing," said Paul Lermack. "There will not be a resolution because he made a plea bargain, because he didn't choose to fight the way he could.

Lawyers agree that Ali Al Marri's reduced sentence sets a precedent for future cases involving the detention of terrorism suspects in the United States. But they also say the question of whether or not their indefinite detention is unconstitutional has yet to be decided¹¹ by the Supreme Court - an issue that remains¹² unresolved as efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility move forward.

1 conspirator   

n.阴谋者，谋叛者

参考例句：

• We started abusing him,one conspirator after another adding his bitter words.我们这几个预谋者一个接一个地咒骂他，恶狠狠地骂个不停。
• A conspirator is not of the stuff to bear surprises.谋反者是经不起惊吓的。

2 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

3 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

4 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

5 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

6 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

7 goggles   

n.护目镜

参考例句：

• Skiers wear goggles to protect their eyes from the sun.滑雪者都戴上护目镜使眼睛不受阳光伤害。
• My swimming goggles keep steaming up so I can't see.我的护目镜一直有水雾，所以我看不见。

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

9 limbo   

n.地狱的边缘；监狱

参考例句：

• His life seemed stuck in limbo and he could not go forward and he could not go back.他的生活好像陷入了不知所措的境地，进退两难。
• I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead.I felt as if I was in limbo.我不知道家人是生是死，感觉自己茫然无措。

10 incarceration   

n.监禁，禁闭；钳闭

参考例句：

• He hadn't changed much in his nearly three years of incarceration. 在将近三年的监狱生活中，他变化不大。 来自辞典例句
• Please, please set it free before it bursts from its long incarceration! 请你，请你将这颗心释放出来吧！否则它会因长期的禁闭而爆裂。 来自辞典例句

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。