Whoa. This is very big news—though what it means is far less clear.
The D.C. Circuit has granted the government’s petition for rehearing en banc in the military commission case of U.S. v. Al-Bahlul. It thus appears that a majority … 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
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 »
This slipped by me on Friday, when I was in Cambridge plotting the next phase of Lawfare‘s expansion. The D.C. Circuit has issued an unredacted opinion in this case, Ameziane v. Obama, which actually came down in … 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 »
Last week, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judges Henderson and Brown handed down a per curiam order in response to the government’s motion to remand Ravil Mingazov’s case to the District Court for consideration of his motion there under Rule … 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 »
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 »
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 »
The D.C. Circuit has batted back Mustafa Ahmed Al Hawsawi’s request for a preliminary injunction to stop the new mail search policy at Guantanamo Bay. A per curiam order by a panel consisting of Judges Merrick Garland, Janice Rogers Brown, … Read more »
If Ben needs something to tear into, there’s also this–my guest post over at the ACSblog, which uses Judge Brown’s disturbing rhetoric in Latif as a foil through which to evaluate this “anniversary.” Reasonable people (including us) … 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 strongly disfavors en banc review. For longstanding cultural reasons, the court avoids en bancs whenever possible. This is generally a good thing. En bancs can be ugly; they stress a court’s collegiality. The Latif case, however, should … Read more »
The more I study the D.C. Circuit decision in Latif, the more important I think it is, and the more regrettable I think it probably is. I’m going to spread this out over two posts. In this one, which … Read more »
I have now read the entirety of Latif, and I am–quite honestly–not entirely sure what to make of it. For one thing, the redactions are extensive, far more so than in the normal D.C. Circuit habeas case. They involve … Read more »
I have only just begun reading the D.C. Circuit’s decision in Latif, but it already clear to me that it is a very big deal. Judge Janice Rogers Brown, for the majority, expressly adopts a presumption in favor of … Read more »
The D.C. Circuit appears to have ruled in the case of Adnan Farhan Abd Al Latif (which Larkin previewed here, the briefs from which she posted here, the argument in which she and I covered here). Latif … 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 »
The D.C. Circuit also heard oral arguments today in El Falesteny v. Obama, some sort of Guantanamo case that is kept so tightly under seal that even the subject matter of the appeal seems to be a mystery. The … Read more »
Today the D.C. Circuit heard oral argument in Gul v. Obama and Hamad v. Obama, the consolidated appeals that ask whether a federal district court has jurisdiction to consider the claims of habeas petitioners Nazar Gul and Adel Hassan … Read more »
(By Benjamin Wittes and Larkin Reynolds)
This summary is going to be short–short and obscure.
The reason is that Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson opened today’s arguments by announcing that almost none of the case could be discussed in open session … 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 »
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 »
(By Robert Chesney and Benjamin Wittes)
This morning the D.C. Circuit vacated and remanded a decision by former U.S. District Judge James Robertson, granting habeas relief to Mohammedou Salahi. The opinion, written by Judge Tatel and joined by Chief Judge … Read more »
The D.C. Circuit just released its opinion in Salahi v. Obama, the first Guantánamo merits appeal of this term. The panel of Judges David Sentelle, David Tatel, and Janice Rogers Brown vacated the district court’s opinion granting habeas to … Read more »
One of the many headaches associated with the GTMO habeas litigation concerns the process of deciding which items of information used in the litigation should be treated as “protected information” that can be shared only with the detainee’s counsel and … Read more »
Kevin Heller claims that the D.C. Circuit in its al-Bihani panel opinion has reached the conclusion, with which he agrees, that “there [is] no justification for the government’s attempt . . . to import the concept of co-belligerency into non-international … Read more »
I tried to take good notes at the Salahi oral argument this morning. The following is a crude summary of the argument, the transcript of which I will post when it becomes available. Bottom line: Expect a remand to the … Read more »
Larkin Reynolds, a Brookings legal fellow who is working with Bobby and me on the next edition of our habeas report, offers a preview of the next big D.C. Circuit case:
The first Guantánamo case scheduled for oral argument
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 »
Monday, May 20, 2013
As Jack posted yesterday—and as everyone is buzzing about—President Obama will give a major counterterrorism speech on Thursday at the National Defense University. The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and Politico all report on the talk, and subjects that the President will likely address.
Speaking of Jack, he noted another of today’s big stories: the Washington Post’s piece on the FBI’s search, a few years… Read more »
