Al-Bihani v. Obama, No. 09-5051

In a habeas petition by a Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainee, denial of the petition is affirmed where: 1) because petitioner was part of and supported a group, prior to and after September 11, 2001, that was affiliated with Al Qaeda and Taliban forces and engaged in hostilities against a U.S. Coalition partner, petitioner fell squarely within the scope of the President's statutory detention powers; 2) the Geneva Conventions required release and repatriation only at the "cessation of active hostilities," not when a war has officially ended; and 3) Hamdi's plurality opinion indirectly endorsed a preponderance standard such as that applied to petitioner's detention proceeding when it suggested due process requirements may have been satisfied by a military tribunal, the regulations of which adopt a preponderance standard.

Read Al-Bihani v. Obama, No. 09-5051

Appellate Information

Argued October 2, 2009

Decided January 5, 2010

Judges

Opinion by Judge Brown

Concurrence by Judge Brown

Concurrence by Judge Williams

Counsel

For Appellant:

Shereen J. Charlick, Reuben Camper Cahn, Steven F. Hubachek, and Ellis M. Johnston, III, Federal Public Defender's Office, Washington, DC

For Appellees:

Matthew M. Collette, Ian Gershengorn, Douglas N. Letter and Robert M. Loeb, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, Washington, DC