WASHINGTON – The White House said Thursday that dangerous detainees at Guantanomo Bay could end up walking Main Street U.S.A. in the wake of last month's Supreme Court ruling about detainees' legal rights.

The ruling, which gave all detainees the right to petition federal judges for immediate release, has intensified discussions within the Bush administration about what to do with the roughly 270 detainees held at Guantanomo Bay.

“I'm sure that none of us want Khalid Sheikh Mohammed walking around our neighborhoods,” White House press secretary Dana Perino said about al-Qaeda's former third in command.

President Bush strongly disagreed with the high court's decision that the foreigners held under indefinite detention at the Guantanamo naval base have the right to seek release in civilian court. The 5-to-4 ruling was the third time the justices had repudiated Bush on his controversial approach to holding the suspects outside the protections of U.S. law.

The administration opened the detention facility shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to hold enemy combatants, people suspected of ties to al-Qaeda or the Taliban. Attorney General Michael Mukasey said the Supreme Court's decision on Guantanamo Bay would unleash a torrent of court filings from detainees seeking their freedom.

“We are in uncharted territory, and we have never had enemy combatants afforded constitutional rights like all of us have, so anybody who thinks that they know exactly what's going to happen if a detainee challenges his detention – his or her detention – in court, they're not being honest because we don't know what's going to happen,” Perino said.

“But there is considered judgment, from many federal government lawyers – all the way up to the attorney general of the United States– that it is a very real possibility that a dangerous detainee could be released into the United States as a result of this Supreme Court decision.”

Judges at Washington's federal courthouse are moving quickly to process about 200 cases involving Guantanamo Bay detainees. Those cases would force the Justice Department to say why the detainees are being held and defend the decision to label them enemy combatants. Defense attorneys are convinced that, in many cases, the evidence will not hold up.

“The judge might say to the United States, 'You don't have enough evidence to hold this person,'” Perino said. “And then what do we do? ... Is he allowed to leave? And if so, is he picked up by immigration? Even if that's the case, they're only allowed to be held for six months.”

Judge Thomas F. Hogan set a hearing for Tuesday to decide how the cases will proceed. Under the schedule expected to be adopted, judges could start reviewing evidence in a matter of weeks and some cases could be decided by September.

Meanwhile, U.S. and Yemeni officials are negotiating the possible release about 100 Yemenis held at the Guantanamo Bay prison, Yemeni officials said. The Yemeni detainees make up the largest national group of prisoners remaining at the facility.