Enemy Combatant Detainees: Habeas Corpus Challenges in Federal Court

After the U.S. Supreme Court held that U.S. courts have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. section 2241 to hear legal challenges on behalf of persons detained at the U.S. Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in connection with the war against terrorism Rasul v. Bush, the Pentagon established administrative hearings, called Combatant Status Review Tribunals CSRTs, to allow the detainees to contest their status as enemy combatants, and informed them of their right to pursue relief in federal court by seeking a writ of habeas corpus. Lawyers subsequently filed dozens of petitions on behalf of the detainees in the District Court for the District of Columbia, where district court judges reached inconsistent conclusions as to whether the detainees have any enforceable rights to challenge their treatment and detention.