Supreme Court To Consider Wartime Powers Case

Guantanamo Detainee's Case Could Limit Presidential Authority

The Supreme Court week tackles President George W. Bush's wartime powers this week in a case involving Osama bin Laden's former driver.

Analysts said that if the administration loses, the case could rein in the president's expanded powers in pursuing and punishing suspected terrorists.

Salim Ahmed Hamdan is seeking to head off a trial before military officers. Hamdan has been held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for the past four years.

Chief Justice John Roberts will not participate because he was on an appeals court that ruled against Hamdan last year. If the high court splits 4-4, that ruling would remain in place.

Hamdan's hope may be two rulings in 2004 in which the justices rejected the president's claim of authority to seize and detain terrorism suspects while indefinitely denying them access to courts or lawyers.