Boumediene v. Bush

128 S.Ct. 2229 (2008)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Ps are aliens detained at Guantanamo after being captured in Afghanistan or elsewhere abroad and designated enemy combatants. Ps sought a writ of habeas corpus, and the District Court ordered the cases dismissed for lack of jurisdiction because Guantanamo is outside sovereign U. S. territory. The D. C. Circuit affirmed, but the Supreme Court reversed, holding that 28 U. S. C. §2241 extended statutory habeas jurisdiction to Guantanamo. While appeals were pending, Congress passed the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 (DTA), §1005(e) to provide that “no court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to … consider … an application for … habeas corpus filed by or on behalf of an alien detained … at Guantanamo,” and gave the D. C. Court of Appeals “exclusive” jurisdiction to review decisions. Congress then passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA), §7(a) of which amended §2241(e)(1) to deny jurisdiction with respect to habeas actions by detained aliens determined to be enemy combatants, while §2241(e)(2) denies jurisdiction as to “any other action against the United States … relating to any aspect of the detention, transfer, treatment, trial, or conditions of confinement” of a detained alien determined to be an enemy combatant. MCA §7(b) provides that the 2241(e) amendments “shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, and shall apply to all cases, without exception, pending on or after [that] date … which relate to any aspect of the detention, transfer, treatment, trial, or conditions of detention of an alien detained … since September 11, 2001.” The D. C. Court of Appeals concluded that MCA §7 must be read to strip from it, and all federal courts, jurisdiction to consider petitioners’ habeas applications. The Supreme Court granted certiorari. Ps ask the court to determine whether they have the constitutional privilege of habeas corpus, a privilege not to be withdrawn except in conformance with the Suspension Clause, Art. I, §9, cl. 2.