Supreme Court Decisions
Three major Supreme Court decisions regarding the rights of detained individuals were handed down on June 28, 2004. Each dealt with different aspects of the controversies regarding detention.
Rasul v. Bush (findlaw 2004, 03-334) involved two Australians and twelve Kuwaitis who had been captured in Afghanistan and detained at Guantanamo Bay. They requested writs of habeas corpus. After their requests were denied, an appeal was made to the Supreme Court. Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the majority, held that federal courts were eligible to consider challenges to detentions that were filed by those imprisoned at Guantanamo. The Court specifically rejected the government claims that cited the Eisentrager case as a precedent. In the earlier case, the accused were never in an area in which the United States had sovereignty. The opinion also clarified the legal status of the naval base by stating that, although Cuba had sovereignty, the United States had exclusive jurisdiction, a condition that made appeal to United States Courts possible. In a concurring opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy noted that resident aliens had always had access to federal courts (Fisher 2005 248).
Rumsfeld v. Padilla (03-1027) concerned an appeal for habeas corpus filed by an American citizen, Jose Padilla, who was arrested in Chicago on the grounds that he had been planning to set off a "dirty bomb". He was designated an enemy combatant by President Bush and was kept in jail in New York and then was later moved to the navy brig in Charleston, SC. Although he was held incommunicado, his attorney did file motions in his behalf. The questions in this case involved the legitimacy of the President's power and the definition of an enemy combatant. The Supreme Court ruled that the case had been filed in an incorrect court and that the person named as defendant should have been the Commander of the Brig in Charleston and not the Secretary of Defense. Because of the incorrect jurisdiction, the Court did not discuss the legal question of the President's authority.
The most significant case is Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (03-6696). Hamdi was born in Louisiana and was captured in Afghanistan. He was sent to Guantanamo and later was moved to the brig in Charleston. He requested counsel, asked that his questioning be stopped, claimed his detention violated rights protected by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, and requested a release.
The Court upheld the legitimacy of his original detention, citing precedents in Exparte Milligan, Quirin, and sections of the Lieber Code. Unlike Milligan, who was arrested outside a war zone, Hamdi was apprehended in an area of war and had a weapon. This condition would classify him as a combatant. Following Quirin, the court held it is legal to classify a citizen as an enemy combatant if he helps the enemy. He was taken prisoner legitimately and could be detained because prisoners can be held for the duration of hostilities so they will not return to the battlefield. One of the difficulties of a war against insurgents is the difficulty of determining what or where the battle field is. Hamdi maintained that he was in the country to give humanitarian aid and that he wasabout to surrender the gun.
However, the Court, with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor writing the majority opinion, vacated the order of the Circuit Court. She summed up the difficulty of the conflict between the public safety and the rights of individuals by saying that it is "during our most challenging ... moments that our nation's commitment to due process is most severely tested; and it is in those times that we must preserve our commitment at home to those principles for which we fight abroad" (C 3). One of the grounds was that the evidence was not conclusive and that his detention was of undetermined length and might be perpetual if there is no definite end to the War on Terrorism. The decision suggested that the government should review its decision to arrest a person using only a "some evidence" standard because there was a risk that too much power would be concentrated in the executive branch of the government if the courts were not allowed to review cases (III D).
The Court ruled that Hamdi was allowed to have a court review the grounds for his detention. This review must be before a neutral and impartial judge (Fisher 2005 228). The government decided to release Hamdi on the condition that he renounce his United States citizenship, return to Saudi Arabia and promise not to sue the government (Fisher 2005 229).
Currently, there are plans to convene military tribunals at the Naval Base on Guantanamo. The Circuit Court for the District of Columbia overruled a lower court ruling that these tribunals violated terms of the Geneva Convention. There are plans to try at least four detainees for war crimes. It is almost certain that this case will be appealed to the Supreme Court (Serrano 2005 A6).
In reviewing these cases, students should be reminded that often, the further in time one is from the crime, the less desire there is for punishment. Mary Surratt's son, John, escaped the round up of conspirators and went to Europe where he stayed for several years. On his return, he was tried in a civil court, not a military tribunal. The jury was hung and the case was never retried. Two of the German saboteurs who avoided execution and were sentenced to prison were released and pardoned after World War II. Even Andrew Jackson, who was fined for his imprisonment of the judge, had his money returned by Congress many years later. If the pattern continues, those currently imprisoned might get more lenient treatment.
Comments: