As Wells noted on Tuesday, the D.C. Circuit granted the government’s petition for rehearing en banc in Al-Bahlul v. United States. This is a very important development, as the full appeals court will now determine whether military commissions may … 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 »
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 »
The American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Law and National Security has released audio recordings of its recent conference in Washington. Here they all are:
Day 1 – Thursday, November 29, 2012
Conference Overview and Welcome
Harvey Rishikof
Laurel
In his post on yesterday’s decision in (what I think we should all call) Hamdan II, Jack writes “The historical arguments for a conspiracy charge in military commissions under the laws of war, while not slam dunks, are . … Read more »
Raff already shared the news re: this morning’s D.C. Circuit decision reversing Salim Hamdan’s military commission conviction for providing material support to terrorism (MST), holding that MST wasn’t a recognized violation of the laws of war prior to 2006 (when … Read more »
The D.C. Circuit Court’s opinion that we’ve all been waiting for has come down. The D.C. Circuit has vacated Hamdan’s conviction for material support for terrorism in the Military Commission and reversed the Court of Military Commission Review’s judgment. The … Read more »
I had to restrain myself this morning at the D.C. Circuit from interrupting proceedings with an emergency request for an on-the-spot ruling in Wittes v. FAA—a case which has admittedly does not exist—that the agency’s action with respect to … Read more »
Yesterday the D.C. Circuit issued its decision in United States v. Mohammed, in which the defendant, Afghan citizen Khan Mohammed, appealed his conviction on narcoterrorism charges stemming from his involvement in a plot to attack a NATO base in … Read more »
At the risk of boring readers who have long-since grown tired of this exchange, let me just offer three quick responses to Bobby’s thoughtful intervention in the back-and-forth between Ben and me on whether the D.C. Circuit really did actively … Read more »
Yesterday’s news out of the Supreme Court may well have obscured another significant detainee-related legal development: As Lyle Denniston has noted over at SCOTUSblog, on Friday, the en banc Ninth Circuit handed down a thoroughly fractured decision in Garcia … Read more »
The unofficial transcript from May 3rd’s oral argument in Hamdan v. USA in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals before Chief Circuit Judge David Sentelle and Circuit Judges Douglas Ginsburg and Brett Kavanaugh, is now available. You can read it … Read more »
A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a District Court judgment in favor of the National Security Agency in a case brought by the Electronic Privacy Information Center under the Freedom of Information Act. The … Read more »
Below is a recap of yesterday’s oral argument before the D.C. Circuit in Hamdan v. United States. As for key takeaways, you’ll find Steve’s breakdown here, and my two cents’ worth here.
Again, it is anyone’s guess how … Read more »
Both because of my own biases and because Wells is going to be posting more of a blow-by-blow at some point (on top of his initial reaction, which I basically share), I’ll spare readers from a comprehensive account of … Read more »
Last week we mentioned that the D.C. Circuit Court had affirmed the District Court’s decision in Mashur Abdullah Muqbel Alsabri’s habeas corpus case. It looked as though the Court was holding off on publishing its opinion so it could be … Read more »
Wells and Larkin have a more comprehensive preview in the works for Thursday’s oral argument before the D.C. Circuit in Hamdan v. United States, and I’d encourage folks to wait for their contribution to get a full sense of … Read more »
Oral argument in Hamdan will be held on Thursday in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judges David Sentelle, Brett Kavanaugh and Douglas Ginsburg. This order just came in regarding oral argument:
It is ORDERED, on the court’s own
The D.C. Circuit Court has affirmed the judgment of the District Court in Alsabri v. Obama. The per curiam judgment in his case before Senior Circuit Judge Ginsburg and Circuit Judges Garland and Kavanagh has been filed and is … Read more »
Against the al-Nashiri backdrop, the government has now filed its brief on the merits in United States v. Hamdan (the first post-conviction appeal under the Military Commissions Acts of 2006 and 2009), which is set to be argued to a … Read more »
Here is Part II of Peter Margulies’s reporting from AALS:
AALS Federal Courts Debate II: Military Commissions and Material Support
The lively federal courts panel at the American Association of Law Schools conference also sparked disagreement on trials in military
Peter Margulies of Roger Williams University School of Law has sent in two accounts of panel discussions at the annual meeting of the American Association of Law Schools. Here is the first:
Federal Courts and National Security: A D.C. Circuit
For our law professor readers, I thought I’d put together a quick post summarizing the national security-related panels at this week’s AALS Annual Meeting here in Washington, D.C. Four panels, in particular, seem to be oriented toward NSL-ish topics (including … Read more »
By Marty Lederman and Steve Vladeck*
[Cross-posted at OpinioJuris]
Section 1021 of the NDAA and the Laws of War
In our companion post, we explained that section 1021 of the NDAA will not have the dramatic effects that … Read more »
By Marty Lederman and Steve Vladeck*
[Cross-posted at OpinioJuris]
Editorial pages and blogs have been overrun in the past couple of weeks with analyses and speculation about the detainee provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act, which the President … Read more »
The D.C. Circuit has decided the case of Fayiz Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari, a Guantanamo habeas petitioner. The writing has been on the wall for Al Kandari since the court abruptly canceled oral arguments in his case. The unpublished per … Read more »
On Friday, the DC Circuit held, in a 2-1 panel decision in Doe v. ExxonMobil, that corporations may be held liable under the Alien Tort Statute, creating a decisive circuit split with the Second Circuit’s decision in Kiobel last … Read more »
The D.C. Circuit Court this morning handed down two opinions that may be of interest to Lawfare readers.
In Ali v. Rumsfeld, Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson delivered the opinion which affirmed the district court’s dismissal. Her opinion was joined … Read more »
Memo to the D.C. Circuit: Staying at a guesthouse is not the same as taking military training.
Ever since the D.C. Circuit’s decision in Al Bihani last year, its opinions have repeated some language that was originally buried in a … Read more »
Almerfedi is a big deal–though perhaps subtly. Judge Laurence Silberman’s opinion continues a trend, begun by Judge Brett Kavanaugh in Uthman, of clarifying just how little the preponderance of the evidence standard really requires of the government. This … Read more »
The D.C. Circuit has handed down its decision in the case of Hussain Almerfedi, a Guantanamo habeas petitioner. The opinion is written by Judge Laurence Silberman for himself and Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Judge Judith Rogers concurred in part and in … Read more »
They say you can’t tell how a case is going to come out from an oral argument. Sometimes you can, and today is one of those days. Hussain Salem Mohammad Almerfedi is going to have his head handed to him … Read more »
Tomorrow morning, a panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in another Guantanamo habeas case, that of Hussain Salem Mohammad Almerfedi (Case No. 10-5291). The case is a government appeal of Judge Paul Friedman’s sole Guantanamo … Read more »
Judge Laurence Silberman’s concurring opinion today in Esmail makes three points, each of them warranting comment. I have enormous regard for Judge Silberman, and I critique his opinion with caution. But I confess myself a little perplexed by it. The … Read more »
The D.C. Circuit continued this morning its broad-based, cross-ideological conspiracy to mess up my schedule. I was returning this morning from a perfectly delightful trip to Saratoga Springs, NY to teach some classes and give a lecture at Skidmore College, … Read more »
Today a D.C. Circuit panel of judges Garland, Griffith, and Kavanaugh reversed and remanded, with instructions to deny, Uthman v. Obama (Case No. 10-5235). Uthman is the merits appeal concerning habeas petitioner Uthman Abdul Rahim Mohammed Uthman. The government … Read more »
Yesterday the D.C. Circuit resolved this interesting question in Almerfedi v. Obama. The panel of Judges Brown, Kavanaugh, and Silberman ruled in the government’s favor, granting the (non-temporary) stay that will prevent petitioner Almerfedi from being transferred out of U.S. … Read more »
This afternoon the D.C. Circuit responded to the government’s request for a temporary stay in Almerfedi v. Obama by granting the motion. This means that the detainee, habeas petitioner Hussain Salem Mohammed Almerfedi, will remain in custody at Guantanamo Bay … Read more »
Uthman Abdul Rahim Mohammed Uthman is in trouble. Facing a relatively congenial D.C. Circuit panel for a Guantanamo detainee and represented by counsel who did an excellent job presenting his case, he made no headway. He will be lucky if … Read more »
Tomorrow morning, a panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in another Guantanamo habeas case, that of Uthman Abdul Rahim Mohammed Uthman (Case No. 10-5235). The case, captioned under Abdah v. Obama, is a government … Read more »
Readers interested in my post from yesterday will find this document useful; prepared by OLC veterans from the Clinton administration in response to the controversy over the Bush administration’s use of signing statements, it makes many of the same points … Read more »
A few of the habeas merits appeals before the D.C. Circuit were just scheduled for oral argument. Here are the dates and panel assignments:
Al Warafi v. Obama: Oral argument will be held February 7, 2010 before judges Ginsburg, … Read more »
Last week I wrote that Barhoumi v. Obama, one of the government’s D.C. Circuit wins, had an outcome that was tentative because of underlying material the government had failed to produce in the district court. Here are the documents … Read more »
It is now well known that the Obama administration has embraced almost all of the Bush administration’s counterterrorism policies without substantial modification. One such policy is military detention without trial. The Obama administration has argued, however, that its legal rationale … Read more »
Judge Brown’s statement in the Al-Bihani rehearing denial sparks three thoughts:
1. Judge Brown complains that the effect of the rehearing denial – especially the non-panel judges’ statement that the panel’s law-of-war analysis was “not necessary to the disposition of … Read more »
Denials of petitions for rehearing en banc are usually dull affairs, but not so the 113-page denial the D.C. Circuit issued two days ago in Al-Bihani v. Obama. The original panel opinion rejected Al-Bihani’s habeas petition on the ground … Read more »
The D.C. Circuit’s 113-pages of non-opinion this week, in which it declined to rehear en banc an earlier panel decision in the Al Bihani case, warrants reflection at a number of levels. I will leave for Jack Goldsmith the … Read more »
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Leading the news: President Obama speaks today at the National Defense University on counterterrorism policy. Many are previewing the speech, including John. According to the New York Times’s Charlie Savage and Peter Baker, Obama will announce more stringent targeting criteria for non-battlefield strikes. This approach will govern the use of force against both citizens and non-citizens.
Here are the Washington … Read more »
