Guantanamo captives' habeas corpus petitions
Encyclopedia
The Supreme Court rules on Rasul v. Bush
In the summer of 2004 the United States Supreme Court ruled on the habeas corpus submission Rasul v. BushRasul v. Bush
Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466 , is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision establishing that the U.S. court system has the authority to decide whether foreign nationals held in Guantanamo Bay were wrongfully imprisoned...
.
The Supreme Court confirmed that the aspect of the Bush Presidency's detainee policy that asserted that the detainees should have no access to the protections of habeas corpus was unconstitutional.
Detainee Treatment Act of 2005
The Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 prohibited US military and intelligence personnel from treating detainees in ways inconsistent with Armed Forces regulations. But it also restricted Guantanamo detainees from filing new writs of habeas corpus. Additionally, the act did not close off the habeas corpus submission that were already in the works.The Supreme Court rules on Hamdi v. Rumsfeld
In the summer of 2006 the Supreme Court ruled that the Bush Presidency lacked the Constitutional authorityUnited States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
to empower Guantanamo military commission
Guantanamo military commission
The Guantanamo military commissions are military tribunals created by the Military Commissions Act of 2006 for prosecuting detainees held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps.- History :...
s. They did rule, however, that the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
did have the authority to empower trial by military commission of the Guantanamo detainees.
Military Commissions Act of 2006
In addition to authorizing military commissions similar to those the Supreme Court overturned the Military Commissions Act of 2006Military Commissions Act of 2006
The United States Military Commissions Act of 2006, also known as HR-6166, was an Act of Congress signed by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006. Drafted in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on Hamdan v...
was intended to close off all the remaining writs of habeas corpus.
The Supreme Court and the Military Commissions Act
On June 29, 2007 the Supreme Court agreed to hear outstanding habeas corpus, opening up the possibility that they might overturn some or all of the Military Commissions Act.The Supreme Court rules on Boumediene v. Bush
On June 12, 2008 the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Boumediene v. BushBoumediene v. Bush
Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723 , was a writ of habeas corpus submission made in a civilian court of the United States on behalf of Lakhdar Boumediene, a naturalized citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, held in military detention by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in Cuba...
, that the Guantanamo detainees were entitled to the protection of the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
.
Justice Anthony Kennedy
Anthony Kennedy
Anthony McLeod Kennedy is an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, having been appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. Since the retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor, Kennedy has often been the swing vote on many of the Court's politically charged 5–4 decisions...
, writing for the majority, described the CSR Tribunals as "inadequate", and wrote:
Lists of habeas petitions filed on behalf of War on Terror detainees
Over two hundred detainees apprehended in the USA's war on terrorWar on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
have had habeas petitions files on their behalf.
The proposed Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007
SenatorsUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Patrick Leahy
Patrick Leahy
Patrick Joseph Leahy is the senior United States Senator from Vermont and member of the Democratic Party. He is the first and only elected Democratic United States Senator in Vermont's history. He is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy is the second most senior U.S. Senator,...
and Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter is a former United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter is a Democrat, but was a Republican from 1965 until switching to the Democratic Party in 2009...
have proposed Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007
Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007
A bill, provisionally called the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007, , passed the United States Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, June 7, 2007.The bill was sponsored by Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy and Republican Senator Arlen Specter....
, to restore access to habeas corpus to the Guantanamo detainees.
Debate began on the bill on September 17, 2007. It has been attached, as an amendment, to a Defense bill.
Boumediene v. Bush
On June 12, 2008 the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Boumediene v. BushBoumediene v. Bush
Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723 , was a writ of habeas corpus submission made in a civilian court of the United States on behalf of Lakhdar Boumediene, a naturalized citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, held in military detention by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in Cuba...
, the executive branch could not withhold the access to the US judicial system from the detainees held in Guantanamo.
External links
- Read the rulings in the decided cases
- Guantanamo Habeas Scorecard Center for Constitutional RightsCenter for Constitutional RightsAl Odah v. United States:Al Odah is the latest in a series of habeas corpus petitions on behalf of people imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The case challenges the Military Commissions system’s suitability as a habeas corpus substitute and the legality, in general, of detention at...
- Guantánamo and Habeas Corpus: Prisoners Win 3 out of 4 Cases, But Lose 5 out of 6 in Court of Appeals (Part One) Andy WorthingtonAndy WorthingtonAndy Worthington is a British historian, journalist, and film director.He has published three books, and been published in numerous publications.In 2009 Worthington was the co-director of a documentary about the Guantanamo detainees....
July 20, 2009 - Human Rights First; Habeas Works: Federal Courts’ Proven Capacity to Handle Guantánamo Cases (2010)