Bad news for civil liberties:

"The Supreme Court gave the Bush administration a major legal victory in the war on terrorism Tuesday, rejecting a challenge to secret deportation hearings held for hundreds of foreigners detained after the Sept. 11 attacks."

"The court declined to hear an appeal from New Jersey newspapers seeking information about the detainees, but attorneys for the newspapers said they still hoped the administration would change its policy. The Supreme Court has been told the policy is being reviewed and probably will be revised."

"The court's refusal to intervene was the third such victory for the government in Sept. 11 cases. Like the others, Tuesday's action was not a ruling on the merits of the case. "

The media outlets had argued:

...the public deserves to know ``how, and how fairly, its government uses the power of detention and deportation.'' ``That is especially true at this moment, when the government itself has expressly drawn a link between deportation proceedings and the war on terrorism and has frequently cited the number of non-citizens it has detained as evidence of the investigation's progress,'' they told justices.

The case is North Jersey Media Group v. Ashcroft, 02-1289.
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