Today, counsel for Saeed Mohammed Hatim filed an “Emergency Motion Concerning Access to Counsel,” both in the Yemeni detainee’s recently reactivated habeas action, and in In Re: Guantanamo Bay Detainee Continued Access to Counsel, a separate matter on … Read more »
Peter Margulies, of Roger Williams School of Law, writes in with these comments on law, ethics, and the hunger strike ongoing at Guantanamo:
The hunger strike at Guantanamo has put bioethics on the frontlines of lawfare. The government’s critics, including
Lawyers for Hani Saleh Rashid Abdullah, a Yemeni detained at Guantanamo, yesterday petitioned the D.C. Circuit for a writ of mandamus. The gist: Abdullah wants the circuit court to force the district court decide a long-pending motion of his.… Read more »
We’ve written a fair amount already about Chief Judge Lamberth’s September 2012 decision regarding the Guantánamo detainees’ continuing right of access to counsel (not to mention his March 2013 decision criticizing the government for its foot-dragging in declassifying various filings … Read more »
As Raff noted last week, the lawyers for the defendant-appellant in United States v. al-Bahlul–the military commission case in which the D.C. Circuit surprisingly granted rehearing en banc–had moved to “clarify” the scope of such rehearing, including … Read more »
The Ninth Circuit will hear oral argument in Al-Nashiri v. MacDonald on June 3. The civil appeal challenges the power of the Military Commissions’ Convening Authority to prosecute Al-Nashiri before a military tribunal at Guantanamo. Seeking to participate in the … Read more »
That’s the gist of this report, filed earlier today by Politico’s Josh Gerstein:
A federal judge declined Monday to take action on behalf of a hunger-striking prisoner at Guantanamo Bay whose attorneys say his life is in danger
Yesterday, pursuant to Judge Thomas Hogan’s recent order, lawyers for habeas petitioner Musa’ab Omar al-Madhwani filed a brief addressing the district court’s jurisdiction to hear al-Madhwani’s emergency challenge to the conditions of his confinement at Guantanamo.
The detainee—who is … Read more »
Earlier today, in Anam et. al. v. Obama, the district court sought further briefing on its power to hear a GTMO detainee’s complaints of mistreatment by detention personnel.
Background: an April 15 hearing had been set on hunger striker … Read more »
Brian Foster of Covington & Burling, responds to my comments on his earlier guest post as follows:
I don’t derive a double standard merely from your sympathy for the instinct behind the Latif majority’s factual assessment. I’m focusing on the
As the recent decisions by the Court of Military Commission Review (CMCR) in the Guantánamo military commission ACLU/media access cases suggests, there are a host of complicated and heretofore unresolved questions about the scope of appellate and collateral review of … Read more »
Brian Foster of Covington & Burling, who represents several Guantanamo detainees, writes in with the following comments on my defense of CIA lawyer Jonathan Fredman—and the case of his former client, Adnan Latif:
I’m interested in the basis and
See this letter from Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Lietzau, on behalf of Secretary Hagel…
At bottom, it seems increasingly clear that there are two very different accounts out there about what’s happening on the ground at Guantánamo–that provided by … Read more »
Last Monday, I flagged Chief Judge Lamberth’s important new decision in a Guantánamo habeas case–Barre v. Obama–in which, among other things, he excoriated the government for how long it has taken them to release declassified (and therefore public) … Read more »
Here are a bunch, which I should have included in my post this morning on Musa’ab Al Madhwani’s emergency motion on clothing, temperature, and potable water:
An emergency motion filed before U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan the other day alleges that guards at Guantanamo are denying a hunger-striking detainee access to potable water and are cranking up the air conditioning to freeze the detainees. The government … Read more »
Wells blogged previously about the efforts of various media groups and the ACLU to seek mandamus review before the Court of Military Commission Review (CMCR), challenging the scope of the protective order (which covers, among other things, the 9/11 trial) … Read more »
Even for those keeping up with the Guantánamo litigation, this decision by Chief Judge Lamberth, a declassified version of which was released on Friday, may have slipped under the radar. The specific issue in Barre v. Obama is yet another … Read more »
Military commission accused Ali Hamza Ahmad Sulaiman al-Bahlul has submitted his response to the government’s petition for rehearing by the full D.C. Circuit. In January, a 3-judge panel of that court vacated al-Bahlul’s conviction for conspiracy. The Department of Justice … Read more »
Controversy surrounding the DoJ White Paper on targeting Americans abroad has generated interest and debate about the meaning of “imminence” in the terrorism context, for purposes of self-defense and other legal doctrines. Similar debates have abounded in the context of … Read more »
Back in January, we devoted a fair amount of attention to the DOJ Supplemental Brief in the al-Bahlul military commission appeal–and the rather significant internal debate within the Administration about whether to accept the D.C. Circuit’s ruling in Hamdan II… Read more »
One of the more interesting structural constitutional questions to emerge from the post-9/11 detention litigation has been the previously under-explored relationship between the Constitution’s Suspension and Due Process Clauses–and the extent to which they might do separate work with regard … Read more »
The United States has filed its appellate brief in the case of Al-Janko v. Gates et al., a damages action brought by a former Guantanamo detainee against former government officers in their individual capacities. (You can find more background … Read more »
Amidst all the hubbub earlier this week, we neglected to note the filing of a new cert. petition in a Guantánamo habeas case–in Obaydullah v. Obama, filed in the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Our coverage of the D.C. Circuit’s … Read more »
Remember the Guantanamo detention case of Hentif v. Obama?
In 2011, the government convinced the district court to reject Fadhel Hussein Saleh Hentif’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. In July of 2012, the district judge noted, on … Read more »
Chief Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has dismissed a civil suit by several former Guantanamo detainees arguing that they were subject to wrongful detention and harsh treatment at the base. His decision … Read more »
The D.C. district court issued two Guantánamo-related orders on Wednesday.
The first involved something of a triple habeas Hail Mary: Judge Richard Leon denied Obaydullah’s (no last name) motion for relief from (1) the court’s March 2012 denial of the … Read more »
Although our own coverage of this week’s pre-trial proceedings in the 9/11 military commission trial at Guantánamo already covered the issue in some detail, I couldn’t help but be taken by Amy Davidson’s post on the New Yorker‘s Daily … Read more »
A while back, I posted about a forthcoming article by Carlos Vázquez (Georgetown) and me on the relationship between Bivens remedies and state law, especially in national security cases. I’m very pleased to say that the published version of … Read more »
Yesterday, we posted the government’s supplemental brief in the Al Bahlul military commission appeal in the D.C. Circuit, the headline of which was the government’s concession that Judge Kavanaugh’s opinion for the Court of Appeals in Hamdan II requires reversal … Read more »
…is available here. In a nutshell:
Hamdan II requires reversal of Bahlul’s convictions by military commission of providing material support for terrorism, conspiracy to commit war crimes, and solicitation to commit war crimes. Because the Court is bound by
On Thursday, lawyers for Abd Al Rahim Hussein Al-Nashiri filed their reply brief in Al-Nashiri v. MacDonald, a civil case now pending before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Al-Nashiri, a defendant before the Guantanamo … Read more »
About six weeks ago, I flagged the (in my view, alarming) filing by the government of a notice of appeal to the D.C. Circuit in the Guantanamo MOU/continuing access-to-counsel litigation. Late last night, the government filed this unopposed motion … Read more »
The D.C. Circuit has handed down its latest Guantanamo habeas case, Khairkhwa v. Obama. The brief, unanimous opinion by Senior Judge A. Raymond Randolph for himself and Judges Judith Rogers and Merrick Garland contains no surprises. As expected, it … Read more »
Back in early November, Ben and I blogged about Fordham Professor Andrew Kent’s provocative new essay, “Do Boumediene Rights Expire?,” which he published in “PENNumbra,” the online companion to the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. … Read more »
First up: on Monday the Hedges plaintiffs, with the United States’ consent, sought additional time with which to file their response brief. (From the docket, it seems the plaintiffs actually had requested the delay a few days prior; the clerk, … Read more »
Courtesy of Todd Ruger from the National Law Journal, it appears that D.C. Circuit Chief Judge David Sentelle will be taking senior status as of February 12, 2013. That will reduce to seven the total number of active D.C. … Read more »
What’s a habeas petitioner to do, if 1) current and former U.S. military officials believe that he no longer poses a significant threat, and that his law of war detention is no longer necessary; but 2) a Periodic Review Board … Read more »
Vice Admiral (Retired) Bruce MacDonald, the Convening Authority for the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, has filed his appellate brief in Al-Nashiri v. MacDonald. That’s the civilian court lawsuit brought by commission defendant Abd Al Rahim Hussein Al-Nashiri, and now … Read more »
District Judge Paul L. Friedman has denied a motion for relief from judgment filed by habeas petitioner Hussain Salem Mohammad Almerfedi. (The court’s classified opinion is dated October 26; a redacted version was not released until yesterday.)
Almerfedi prevailed before … Read more »
Back in June, I wrote a fairly lengthy post analyzing the ability of detainees in U.S. custody facing extradition or other involuntary transfer to a foreign sovereign to challenge their transfer pursuant to the federal statute implementing the United States’ … Read more »
[Update (11:41 a.m. EDT)]: The always reliable Josh Gerstein already had a story up on this late last night over @ Politico, which reports that an “administration official” suggested that “Friday’s filings were made in order to keep open … Read more »
Does anyone have any idea what this is about?
In March 2011, the government made classified filings in 10 cases involving high-value detainees. The filings have never become public, and I have been wondering for some time what they concern. … Read more »
Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit filed a per curiam order in the case of Bahlul v. United States, ordering the parties to file briefs addressing the implications of the court’s decision in … Read more »
The government has filed its brief in Hamad v. Gates, an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Like Al-Nashiri v. MacDonald, another case pending in that court, Hamad raises questions about the … Read more »
I was out of the country last week and missed the opportunity to weigh in promptly on the Hamdan decision. In reading the reactions, I have noted that many human rights and civil liberties groups have insisted that the decision … Read more »
Wells already posted U.S. District Judge John D. Bates’s opinion dismissing Maqaeleh. Judge Bates also dismissed the related case of Hamidullah. I’m reading them both now and will have thoughts later today.
Judge John Bates has granted the government’s motion to dismiss in Al-Maqaleh et al v. Gates—in which detainees at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan had petitioned for writs of habeas corpus. I’ve only glanced at the District Court’s opinion; here … Read more »
Jonathan Witmer-Rich of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law writes in with these comments on Hamdan II:
Reflecting on Hamdan II, I wonder if the court really responded to the government’s opening argument (in Part I.A of its opening brief
Steve, Ben, Jack, and Bobby have already posted some excellent thoughts on the DC Circuit’s decision in Hamdan II. I agree with many of them. In particular, I think Jack is right to suggest that, wholly … Read more »
Friday, May 24, 2013
Coverage of President Obama’s speech yesterday is plentiful: Here are Peter Baker of the New York Times, Karen DeYoung and Greg Miller of the Washington Post, and Mark Mazzetti of the Times with an analysis of the key points of the speech. Scott Wilson of the Post also provides a rundown of the speech, and cites Ben. The Associated Press reports on lifting the transfer ban on Yemeni detainees, and Colleen McCain Nelson, Adam Entous, and Julia E. Barnes… Read more »
