Nashiri’s Reply Brief, released on Friday, responds to the government’s contention that Nashiri’s petition does not sound in habeas at all, and is therefore barred by 28 U.S.C. § 2241(e)(2).

With the ruling in Al Bahlul IV still outstanding, the D.C. Circuit is set to hear argument next month on the military commission trial – yet to take place – of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the Guantánamo detainee charged with planning the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen, among other offenses. Nashiri’s challenge raises corollary questions to Al Bahlul about the scope of military commission jurisdiction.

For the first time since February, proceedings in military commissions case United States v. Mohammad et al resumed this morning at Guantanamo Bay.

The brief was submitted to the D.C. Circuit yesterday, by the Guantanamo detainee's lawyers. We thus await decision from the appeals court as to whether it will order en banc rehearing in this long-running military commissions case.

It almost certainly won't, in my view—but we'll see soon enough.