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Supreme Court takes al-Marri detention case, employment discrimination appeal

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court granted certiorari Friday in two cases. In al-Marri v. Pucciarelli, the Court will decide whether the Authorization for Use of Military Force, passed after the 9/11 attacks, authorizes the indefinite military detention of of a person lawfully residing in the US, without criminal charge or trial, based on government assertions that the detainee conspired with al Qaeda to engage in terrorist activities. The case involves Qatari national Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri who has been held since 2003 solely on the basis of a presidential declaration that he is an "enemy combatant." The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in July upheld the president's authority to order al-Marri's detention. The incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama will have the power to change the Bush administration's policy, potentially ending the case before a ruling by the Court by releasing or charging al-Marri. In Gross v. FBL Financial Services, the Court will decide whether a plaintiff must present direct evidence of discrimination in order to obtain a mixed-motive instruction in a non-Title VII discrimination case. The case involves an executive who claims he was passed over for a promotion in favor of a younger employee in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). In 2003, the Court ruled in Desert Palace v. Costa that direct evidence - evidence linking an adverse employment action to a specific motive - is not required in a mixed-motive case under Title VII, but left open the issue of whether direct evidence would be required outside the Title VII context. The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled in May that direct evidence is required under the ADEA.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on December 05, 2008 (boomark / email).