Opinion ID: 2647074
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: military commission authority

Text: Congress, by authorizing the use of military force following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, gave the President the power to detain certain individuals as a “fundamental and accepted . . . incident to war.” Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723, 733 (2008) (quoting Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507, 518 (2004) (plurality opinion)). Shortly thereafter, President Bush issued an order providing for military commission trials of noncitizens he had reason to believe had been or currently were members of al-Qaida or had otherwise participated in terrorist activities directed at the United States. Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War Against Terrorism, 66 Fed. Reg. 57,833 (Nov. 13, 2001). A 2004 Department of Defense order created the Combatant Status Review Tribunal to determine whether the Executive Branch had properly designated noncitizen detainees as “enemy combatants.” Memorandum from Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz re Order Establishing Combatant Status Review Tribunal § a (July 7, 2004), available at http://www.defense.gov/news/Jul2004/d20040707review.pdf. Absent such a designation, military commissions lack authority over detainees. 10 U.S.C. § 948b (providing that AL-NASHIRI V. MACDONALD 5 the MCA’s purpose is to “establish[] procedures governing the use of military commissions to try alien unlawful enemy combatants engaged in hostilities against the United States”); cf. Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507, 509 (2004) (stating that “a citizen held in the United States as an enemy combatant [must] be given a meaningful opportunity to contest the factual basis for that detention,” i.e. his designation as an enemy combatant). After legal challenges on multiple fronts, in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, the Supreme Court invalidated, as violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Conventions, a number of the commission procedures authorized by statute and executive order. 548 U.S. 557, 625 (2006). In response to Hamdan, Congress enacted the Military Commissions Act of 2006. Pub. L. No. 109–366, 120 Stat. 2600 (2006) (“2006 MCA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2241(e) (2006); see Boumediene, 553 U.S. at 735. The 2006 MCA authorized trial by military commission for “alien unlawful enemy combatant[s].” 2006 MCA § 3. In 2009, Congress largely superseded the 2006 MCA and provided detainees certain additional procedural safeguards. Military Commissions Act of 2009, Pub. L. No. 111–84, 123 Stat. 2574 (2009) (“2009 MCA”), 10 U.S.C. §§ 948a et seq. Relevant to these proceedings, the 2009 MCA authorized the President to establish military commissions to try “alien unprivileged enemy belligerents,” as opposed to the earlier designation, “enemy combatants,” for violations of the law of war and other offenses triable by military commissions. 10 U.S.C. §§ 948b(a)–(b), 948c. The offenses specified in the 2009 MCA are “triable by military commission . . . only if the offense is committed in the context of and associated with hostilities.” Id. § 950p(c). Under the 2009 MCA, 6 AL-NASHIRI V. MACDONALD hostilities are “any conflict subject to the laws of war.” Id. § 948a(9).