In the suit, Jose Padilla accuses former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other government officials of torturing him in a South Carolina military prison.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in January that U.S. Congress, not the court system, has jurisdiction over military detention cases. Padilla is now appealing that decision.
Padilla is serving 17 years in prison after being convicted of supporting terrorism in Kosovo, Bosnia and Chechnya.
