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 decision by 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.
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