Detainees at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were dealt a setback Monday by the Supreme Court, which refused — for now — to hear their claim that they were being denied the right to habeas corpus that is protected by the Constitution.

This right to go before a judge to determine whether detention is lawful is considered a fundamental principle of Anglo-American law, and the Constitution says this privilege of habeas corpus "shall not be suspended" except during invasions or insurrections. But the reach of this right remains in doubt. Bush administration lawyers say the right to habeas corpus does not extend to foreign-born prisoners held by the U.S. military outside the nation’s borders.

The justices voted 6 to 3 against taking up the issue and deciding it in the current term. But the matter was more closely divided than the numbers indicate, since Justices John Paul Stevens and Anthony M. Kennedy said they voted with the majority only because the prisoners had not tried all the "available remedies" under the law.

The two justices were referring to a provision, added by Congress to defense appropriations legislation in late 2005, that said detainees held by the U.S. military were entitled to a Combatant Status Review Tribunal at Guantanamo Bay.

In these brief hearings, military officers examine whether there is evidence to hold the detainee as an "enemy combatant." The detained men do not have a right to a lawyer, and they cannot challenge, or even see, all the evidence against them. In more than 90% of the cases, the officers upheld the Pentagon’s decision to hold the detainee.

Congress said the detainees could ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review the decisions of these tribunals.

None of the current detainees has tried that option, which their lawyers call a sham. Because the appeals court already has ruled that the detainees have no rights under the Constitution, the detainees have virtually no chance of winning relief in that court.

Now, however, lawyers representing the Guantanamo prisoners will have to go through that lower court before they appeal again to the Supreme Court.