Posted by Orin Kerr:
Habeas Jurisdiction in Saudi Arabia:
The Bush Administration's claims of legal authority relating to the
war on terror have been taking a beating in the courts recently. The
latest round is a [1]decision by [2]Judge John Bates of the U.S.
Distict Court for the District of Columbia finding federal court
habeas jurisdiction over claims by a U.S. citizen held in Saudi Arabia
by Saudi authorities, although at the direction of U.S. officials:
[T]he Court holds that the United States may not avoid the habeas
jurisdiction of the federal courts by enlisting a foreign ally as
an intermediary to detain the citizen. The instances where the
United States is correctly deemed to be operating through a foreign
ally as an intermediary for purposes of habeas jurisdiction will be
exceptional, and a federal court's inquiry in such cases will be
substantially circumscribed by the separation of the powers.
Nonetheless, the executive's authority over foreign relations has
never in our nation's history been deemed to override entirely the
most fundamental rights of a United States citizen -- the right to
challenge as arbitrary and unlawful his detention allegedly at the
will of the executive. This authority likewise has never been held
to eliminate the essential remedy against such unlawful detentions
-- the Great Writ of habeas corpus.
At first blush, I don't think the case has far-reaching
consequences. The petitioner was a citizen, and very few detainees
are. Still, it's interesting to note that the opinion uses some pretty
strong language, and was written by a judge nominated by George W.
Bush.
References
1. http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/04-1258.pdf
2. http://www.fjc.gov/servlet/tGetInfo?jid=2909
_______________________________________________
Volokh mailing list
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://highsorcery.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volokh
