High Court Faces Tough Terror Cases

Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer said Friday that the high court soon will face difficult cases that ask whether the government has gone too far in the war on terrorism.

The Supreme Court has not yet agreed to hear an appeal arising from the government’s tracking and detention of terrorist suspects after the Sept. 11 attacks, but the justices have several possibilities.

“We know that terrorism is a problem. We also know we live in a country that wants to protect basic civil liberties,” Breyer told the American Society of International Law.

He said courts, including his own, “are fully aware of mistakes that have been made in American history.” Among those, he cited the holding of 100,000 Japanese Americans in camps during World War II -- which the Supreme Court upheld in 1944 -- and the punishment of critics of World War I.

In the latest round of lawsuits, attorneys will be questioning why the government is doing things and “why not in a less restrictive way,” Breyer said.

Civil liberties groups have accused the Bush administration of violating the constitutional rights of accused terrorists and others. The administration maintains that national security justifies its aggressive terrorism-fighting strategy.

The Supreme Court has been asked to consider the legal rights of foreigners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the government’s decision to hold private deportation hearings. Both cases are pending.

Breyer said the terrorism cases will be difficult.

“You want to know how it’s going to come out? So do I,” he said to laughter from the packed room of lawyers.

The international law group, holding its annual meeting, discussed subjects including government power and terrorism.

Anne-Marie Slaughter, the society’s president, said Breyer “reassured us the judicial process in this country is alive and well and will balance the full range of factors in determining the right line between security and liberties.”