Latest in Detention
More than 600 Islamic State fighters from a variety of countries are being held by SDF in Syria, but no one thinks this situation can last. Frantic diplomatic negotiations have borne little fruit so far, and it appears a two-pronged stopgap solution may be in the works. Buckle up.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied a motion for an initial en banc hearing in Qassim v. Trump. Judge David Tatel issued an extended concurrence, questioning the Circuit Court’s adherence to habeas precedent. The full order, with the concurrence, is below.
Can his own government say no if a citizen captured as an enemy combatant abroad wants a passport?
The government is trying to release Doe in Syria.
The government has filed a notice with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Doe v. Mattis, informing the court that phone calls between Doe and his attorneys were inadvertently recorded by the Defense Department. The department writes that the one Pentagon employee who heard the phone calls has not discussed the contents with anyone and has been instructed not to do so. The contents of the calls have been downloaded to a CD, which will be shared with the ACLU and subsequently destroyed. The filing is available in full below.
On Monday, Khalid Ahmed Qassim filed a motion for en banc review of Judge Thomas Hogan’s May 10 denial of a petition for habeas relief.
The dissent in the D.C. Circuit’s ruling in Doe suffers from a self-defeating logical error.
On Tuesday, Judge Thomas Hogan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied Khalid Ahmed Qassim’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Russell Spivak summarized the joint status report, motion in limine, and a prehearing brief filed in the case for Lawfare in March. Read Hogan’s one-page judgment below:
Prosecuting John Doe seemed unviable at first. Things may be different now.
What to make of the court's split decision.