Here is the text of Justice Stephen Bryer's speech last week on Liberty, Security and the Courts. Among the issues he believes the Court likely will face:

The detainee cases may ask the courts to decide, among other things: What law applies to the detainees in Cuba? What rights or guarantees does the applicable law grant them? Have those rights been respected? Are the restrictions imposed upon the two American citizens detained in military prisons consistent with basic Constitutional guarantees? What rights, if any, does the Constitution offer foreigners illegally present in the United States? What are the rights of material witnesses? In particular, to what extent and in what circumstances do ordinary courts lack jurisdictional competence to decide these questions?

Breyer is emphatic that the Courts will not shy from these issues and that detainees have the right to ask that they be determined.

But as you understand, answers will be forthcoming. Our judicial system is open. An individual detainee, or a "next friend" if that detainee lacks immediate access to a court, can file a court complaint. The complaint can ask the judge for relief, say freedom from detention, access to counsel, or an amelioration of detention conditions. The court will respond, yes or no, grant or deny. And the losing party can appeal -- eventually to our Court. Indeed, a party concerned with delay can move for a speedy response and can seek review of an adverse ruling. And, if the government claims that the court lacks jurisdiction to decide a particular matter, the court, not the government, will decide if that is so, with the result in a lower court being subject to appeal.

Breyer goes on to note: