But other officials contend that it would clash with the Biden administration’s values not to clearly say that detainees have due process rights. A top Senate Democrat — Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee and his party’s No. 2 leader in the chamber — sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick B. Garland urging him to direct the department to say that detainees have such rights. For now, however, Elizabeth B. Prelogar, the acting solicitor general who will sign the brief, is primarily handling the issue. Mr. Garland is said to have recused himself from playing any role in the litigation; he was until recently a judge on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and participated in cases involving Guantánamo detainees.

Source: New York Times July 08, 2021 23:48 UTC