Now available in redacted form: the government’s opposition brief and the defendant’s reply in United States v. Ghailani, a criminal case arising from the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and now pending before the Second Circuit. … 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
Jess Bravin of the Wall Street Journal, the author of the recent book, The Terror Courts: Rough Justice at Guantanamo Bay, has posted the following statement on the Facebook page associated with his new book (I have taken … 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
It took only a few minutes from the time I posted my defense of CIA lawyer Jonathan Fredman last night for Marcy Wheeler (aka emptywheel) to begin tweeting bile against both Fredman and me. She used words like “criminal” and … Read more »
The quotation is apparently too sexy to resist—too sexy even to Google its speaker’s name before running with it. A single Google search would, after all, yield this article by Stuart Taylor Jr. in National Journal—an article that should … 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 »
Ritika already posted about AEI’s panel yesterday on Zero Dark Thirty, along with a link to the video of the proceedings. Given the composition of the panel, one can hardly be surprised by overall tenor of the AEI … 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 »
Under the snazzy headline “Renditions continue under Obama, despite due-process concerns,” today’s Washington Post has a long article on the overseas arrest, detention, and subsequent criminal indictment in New York (civilian) federal court of three “European men with Somali roots.” … Read more »
The European Court of Human Rights (“ECHR”) today held that Macedonia had violated the rights of Khaled El-Masri. In 2003 El-Masri, a German national, was confused for a similarly-named terrorism suspect, and then, among other things, allegedly taken to Afghanistan—where … Read more »
No, you didn’t read that wrong. And no, this isn’t an episode of South Park.
The Center for Constitutional Rights and the Canadian Centre for International Justice have filed a complaint with the Geneva-based U.N. Committee Against Torture—which oversees compliance … Read more »
A sharply-divide en banc Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has handed down its opinion in Vance v. Rumsefeld, reversing a panel decision to allow a suit by American citizens alleging detention and torture by U.S. forces in Iraq. Writing … Read more »
Tom Malinowski of Human Rights Watch writes in with the following comments in response to my recent post on Human Rights Watch’s new allegations of water boarding by the CIA:
I’m shocked that you’re shocked!
Seriously, what’s surprised me over
The New York Times has the story here about this new Human Rights Watch report concerning the handling of Libyan detainees transferred to Libyan custody after 2004. I haven’t read the report yet–by Laura Pitter–and, in general, my interest level … Read more »
Some detainee treatment news here: Attorney General Eric Holder today announced the end of a criminal investigation into the deaths of two detainees while in U.S. custody. No charges will be filed because, according to Holder’s statement, “the admissible evidence … Read more »
I received the following response from Richard Klingler to my ACSblog post on Monday re: the Al-Aulaqi suit and Bivens, and thought I’d post it in its entirety (below the fold) before replying (also below the fold):
Over at the ACSblog, I have a guest post up on Al-Aulaqi v. Panetta and Ben’s suspicion that the lawsuit will go the way of Arar, Lebron, Doe, and Rasul–with courts holding that there should be … Read more »
Why have victims of alleged governmental misconduct arising out of post-September 11 counter-terrorism policies met with virtually no success thus far in pursuing damages claims arising out of the government’s claimed abuses? It can’t be the lack of merit to … Read more »
The New York Times published an editorial yesterday criticizing Monday’s decision by the Second Circuit in ACLU v. Department of Justice, which held that various interrogation-related materials sought by the ACLU and other groups were exempted from Freedom of … Read more »
Our friends over at Opinio Juris are hosting a neat online symposium discussion of Professor Laura Dickinson’s book Outsourcing War and Peace: Preserving Public Values in a World of Privatized Foreign Affairs. In addition to two posts (so far) … Read more »
Whatever else one might say about Fourth Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, I think it’s safe to describe him as one of the leading contemporary advocates of judicial restraint on the federal appellate bench. After all, it was the … Read more »
I’ve blogged before about al-Shimari v. CACI International, and the larger question of whether state law tort claims may be brought against government contractors arising out of their support of military operations overseas–including their alleged complicity in torture and … Read more »
The D.C. Circuit heard oral argument yesterday in Doe v. Rumsfeld (11-5209), a Bivens case brought by a U.S. citizen working as a military contractor in Iraq who alleged detention and interrogation abuses by the U.S. government. The case is … Read more »
Given Ben’s report on the oral argument, today’s fairly cryptic D.C. Circuit opinion in al-Zahrani v. Rodriguez, throwing out a damages suit arising out of the deaths of several inmates at Guantanamo, is hardly surprising. Writing for a … Read more »
I wasn’t able to attend last Friday’s oral argument before the en banc Fourth Circuit in the Abu Ghraib contractor suits (about which we’ve said quite a bit previously). But I thought I’d flag three helpful links for folks who … Read more »
Tomorrow morning, the en banc Fourth Circuit will hear oral argument in the two Abu Ghraib/contractor preemption cases about which we’ve blogged previously. Although there’s a serious question as to the Court of Appeals’ jurisdiction, the heart of the … Read more »
As Jack and Steve have both noted, yesterday the Fourth Circuit issued its opinion in Lebron v. Rumsfeld, the appeal seeking reversal of a district court’s decision denying Jose Padilla declaratory and equitable relief against several current and … Read more »
Jack just flagged the Fourth Circuit’s unanimous 39-page opinion throwing out Lebron v. Rumsfeld–one of the two pending Bivens suits brought by Jose Padilla arising out of his detention (and alleged abuse) as an “enemy combatant.” Although Padilla’s allegations … Read more »
Opinion here. Commentary later, hopefully.
Oh boy. Former CIA officer John Kiriakou has been arrested and charged with leaking classified to a journalist concerning interrogation at GTMO, including the identity of persons involved in interrogation sessions (information which was given to the defense team, allegedly, … Read more »
We’ve written previously about the Fourth Circuit’s (upcoming) en banc rehearing of Al-Shimari v. CACI International, Inc. and Al-Quraishi v. L-3 Services, Inc., two decisions in which a three-judge panel threw out state-law tort claims arising out of torture … Read more »
The New York Times published two op-eds this weekend by former Guantánamo detainees — one by Lakhdar Boumediene, the lead plaintiff in Boumediene v. Bush, which extended a constitutional right to the writ of habeas corpus to Guantánamo … Read more »
We’ve previously covered the Fourth Circuit’s pair of decisions in September dismissing tort suits against various contractors arising out of claims of torture at various detention facilities in Iraq–including Abu Ghraib. In the cases, Al Shimari v. CACI Int’l, Inc.… Read more »
Canadian forces may be largely on their way out of Afghanistan, but for a Kabul-based contingent focused on training Afghans, but the prospect that they might nonetheless in the position of capturing a prisoner raises the question of what they … Read more »
The full Seventh Circuit has granted the government’s motion to rehear en banc Vance v. Rumsfeld, a suit by two U.S. citizens alleging that they were detained and tortured by U.S. forces in Iraq. The date of oral argument … Read more »
Oral arguments in Lebron v. Rumsfeld took place before the Fourth Circuit on Wednesday. The oral argument audio recording is available here, and my argument preview, with background on the case as well as links to the lower court … Read more »
Tomorrow, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit will hear oral arguments in Lebron v. Rumsfeld, in which Jose Padilla and his mother, Estella Lebron, appeal a district court’s dismissal of a Bivens claim against former Secretary … Read more »
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has released its report on the treatment of detainees in the custody of the Afghan government.
Here is the executive summary:
From October 2010 to August 2011, the United Nations Assistance Mission in
The government has moved the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear en banc the Vance case, which last month allowed a suit to proceed against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld by U.S. citizens who claim they were illegally detained … Read more »
Yesterday, the Fourth Circuit announced decisions in Al Shimari v. CACI International and Al-Quraishi v. L-3 Services, Inc. Both cases involved tort suits brought by Iraqi civilians against U.S. military contractors alleged to have engaged in detention and interrogation abuses … Read more »
Judging from his new book, In My Time, former Vice President Dick Cheney probably won’t be participating in the Lawfare 10th Anniversary Project, which is devoted to acknowledging error and second thoughts. But judging from the commentary on … Read more »
In November 2009, the ACLU brought a suit on behalf of an American citizen–Amir Meshal–against two FBI agents and two unnamed officials, alleging the following: that he went to Somalia in 2006, that he fled the fighting there … Read more »
…and guess what? This post is not about any gross factual errors in either of them concerning the legality of detention. Perhaps that’s because neither editorial really deals with the legality of detention, but never mind. I’ll take factually decent … Read more »
I was trying to formulate my mixed feelings about the Vance and Doe decisions when I received the following email from a Lawfare reader. It so totally represents my own uncertainty about the cases that I thought I would just … Read more »
Josh Gerstein at the Politico beat me to the punch with a point I have been meaning to make since looking at the Seventh Circuit’s Vance decision yesterday: The viability of civil cases against former officials for allegations of detention … Read more »
Only days after a U.S. District Court in Washington allowed to proceed a suit by a U.S. citizen who alleged that he had been detained and tortured by U.S. forces in Iraq, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has permitted … Read more »
Back in June, I posted the appeal of Jose Padilla and his mother in a civil case against a group of current and former Defense Department officials. The case, which made a variety of constitutional claims in connection with Padilla’s … Read more »
I have only had a chance to skim this lengthy opinion by U.S. District Judge James Gwin allowing a suit against Don Rumsfeld and others to proceed on some counts. But it appears to allege quite remarkable facts. The John … Read more »
Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick has posted excerpts from the Aspen Security Forum event to which I linked on Sunday.
Friday, May 17, 2013
The Department of Justice’s Inspector General released an interim report on the Department’s handling of “known or suspected” terrorists who have entered the government’s witness protection program. The report found, among other things, that information on some program participants had not been turned over to no-fly list authorities; and, that two such people could not be located—though one… Read more »
