Federal Judiciary

Boumediene goes to France

By Akin Gump Supreme Court Practice Group

The Supreme Court’s most sweeping ruling on the rights of detainees — Boumediene v. Bush, decided 11 months ago this week — has now led to the release of the prisoner who gave his name to the case, Lakhdar Boumediene.  He was transferred to France, six months after a federal judge ordered his release from Guantanamo Bay. In the ruling in his case, the Supreme Court established a constitutional right for Guantanamo prisoners to challenge their continuing captivity.

The Justice Department said in a statement (found here) that Boumediene, an Algerian national, was cleared for release by President Obama’s task force on Guantanamo prisoners.  That left the implication that a federal judge’s release order is not sufficient to actually accomplish release.  The Department said that Boumediene’s transfer was arranged in diplomatic dealings with France.

The Justice Department has told federal judges several times that, unless a diplomatically-arranged transfer is possible, a Guantanamo detainee has no claim to release even with a court order. 

Full post as published by SCOTUSBLOG on May 15, 2009 (boomark / email).