Rasul v. Bush
| Rasul v. Bush | |
|---|---|
|
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| Argued April 20, 2004 Decided June 28, 2004 |
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| Full case name | Shafiq Rasul, et al., Petitioners v. George W. Bush, President of the United States, et al.; Fawzi Khalid Abdullah Fahad al Odah, et al., Petitioners v. United States, et al. |
| Citations | 542 U.S. 466 (more)
124 S. Ct. 2686; 159 L. Ed. 2d 548; 2004 U.S. LEXIS 4760; 72 U.S.L.W. 4596; 2004 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 457
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| Prior history | On writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Al Odah v. United States, 355 U.S. App. D.C. 189, 321 F.3d 1134, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 4250 (2003) |
| Holding | |
| The degree of control exercised by the United States over the Guantanamo Bay base is sufficient to trigger the application of habeas corpus rights. The right to habeas corpus can be exercised in all dominions under the sovereign's control. | |
| Court membership | |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Stevens, joined by O'Connor, Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer |
| Concurrence | Kennedy |
| Dissent | Scalia, joined by Rehnquist, Thomas |
Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466 (2004), is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision establishing that the U.S. court system has the authority to decide whether foreign nationals (non-U.S. citizens) held in Guantanamo Bay were wrongfully imprisoned. The 6–3 ruling on June 28, 2004, reversed a decision by the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which held that the Judiciary had no jurisdiction to handle wrongful imprisonment cases involving foreign nationals who are held in Guantanamo Bay. Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the majority opinion and was joined by Sandra Day O'Connor, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer, with Anthony Kennedy concurring. Justice Antonin Scalia filed a dissenting opinion and was joined by William Rehnquist and Clarence Thomas.
The claimant whose name the case bears, the British citizen Shafiq Rasul, was one of the Tipton Three. The US transported the three men to the United Kingdom in March 2004 before the decision was handed down, and the government released them the next day.
In early 2002, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) was the first organization to file two habeas corpus petitions, Rasul v. Bush and Habib v. Bush, challenging the U.S. government's practice of holding foreign nationals in detention indefinitely who were captured in Afghanistan during the war against the Taliban regime and al-Qaida. The government had designated the detainees as enemy combatants and did not allow them access to counsel, the right to a trial, or knowledge of the charges against them. The United States Supreme Court, over the administration's objections, agreed in November 2003 to hear the cases of the Guantánamo detainees, namely Rasul v. Bush, which was consolidated with al Odah v. Bush (the latter represented twelve Kuwaiti men). The arguments were heard on April 20, 2004. In a ruling on June 28, 2004, the Court ruled that the habeas corpus statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2241, entitled the detainees to challenge the validity of their detention.
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