Opinion ID: 1043397
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: any other action against the United States

Text: or its agents relating to any aspect of the detention by the Department of Defense of an alien at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who— (A) is currently in military custody; or (B) has been determined by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in accordance with the procedures set forth in section 1005(e) of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 to have been properly detained as an enemy combatant. 14 HAMAD V. GATES certain specified procedures, and (2) whether those procedures complied with the Constitution and applicable federal law. DTA § 1005(e)(2)(C).4 Second, DTA § 1005(e)(3) allowed the D.C. Circuit to perform a limited review of convictions by military tribunals.5 4 DTA § 1005(e)(2)(C) provides: Scope of Review—The jurisdiction of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on any claims with respect to an alien under this paragraph shall be limited to the consideration of—
Combatant Status Review Tribunal with regard to such alien was consistent with the standards and procedures specified by the Secretary of Defense for Combatant Status Review Tribunals (including the requirement that the conclusion of the Tribunal be supported by a preponderance of the evidence and allowing a rebuttable presumption in favor of the Government’s evidence); and
United States are applicable, whether the use of such standards and procedures to make the determination is consistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States. 5 DTA § 1005(e)(3) provides, in pertinent part: (A) In General—Subject to subparagraphs (B), (C), and (D), the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit shall have exclusive jurisdiction to determine the validity of any final decision rendered pursuant to Military Commission Order No. 1, dated August 31, 2005 (or any successor military order). . . . HAMAD V. GATES 15 In sum, the DTA permitted the D.C. Circuit to conduct a limited review of the detention and convictions of enemy combatants, but it stripped any court of jurisdiction to entertain habeas petitions or any other actions filed by detainees determined to be enemy combatants or awaiting such a determination. Less than a year later, the Supreme Court held that the DTA’s jurisdiction-stripping amendments to § 2241 did not apply to cases pending before the DTA’s effective date. See Hamdan, 548 U.S. at 576–78, 584 & n.15. The Court reached this conclusion because the DTA expressly provided that the limited review procedures of § 1005(e)(2) and (3) applied to pending cases, but was silent about whether the jurisdictionstripping amendments to § 2241 also applied to these pending cases. Id. at 574–76. Congress responded once again by enacting the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA), Pub. L. No. 109-366, 120 Stat. 2600. Section 7 of the MCA amended 28 U.S.C. (D) Scope of Review—The jurisdiction of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on an appeal of a final decision with respect to an alien under this paragraph shall be limited to the consideration of— (i) whether the final decision was consistent with the standards and procedures specified in the military order referred to in subparagraph (A); and (ii) to the extent the Constitution and laws of the United States are applicable, whether the use of such standards and procedures to reach the final decision is consistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States. 16 HAMAD V. GATES § 2241(e) again, broadening its jurisdiction-stripping language.6 Id. § 7, 120 Stat. 2600, 2635–36. In direct 6 Section 7 of the MCA states: (a) In General.—Section 2241 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by striking [the existing subsection (e)] . . . and inserting the following new subsection (e): “(e)(1) No court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed by or on behalf of an alien detained by the United States who has been determined by the United States to have been properly detained as an enemy combatant or is awaiting such determination. “(2) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and