Extrajudicial detention, U.S., George W. Bush Administration
- See also: User: Howard C. Berkowitz/EJUS
Most of the justification for extrajudicial detention and other unusual legal measures following the 9-11 attacks, by the George W. Bush Administration, derive authority from an interpretation on the Constitutional power of the President as Commander-in-Chief, and from the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), as distinct from a declaration of war.[1] It authorizes the President "to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons."
Congress declared this was a statutory authorization consistent with the War Powers Resolution, although not superceding any of its other requirements. There has been little argument that this authorized combat operations in the Afghanistan War (2001-), although the authorization has been less clear both for the Iraq War. It, and legal opinions, also form the Administration's justification for a wide range of actions dealing with individuals and groups considered part of what it terms the war on terror.
A number of the authorities claimed either were repudiated by January 2009 opinions at the end of the Bush Administration, [2] or were no longer claimed by the Obama administration when it succeeded the Bush Administration.
Authority claimed
Besides direct military operations, President George W. Bush held that the AUMF permitted him to declare anyone, regardless of citizenship, an enemy combatant. The first key legal opinion supporting this position , dated August 1, 2002, was issued by Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee, in the the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice went to White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales. [3]
Precedent
- Ex parte Quirin [r]: A 1942 Supreme Court of the United States ruling that affirmed the right to try captured enemy personnel, who operated in civilian clothing, by a Presidentially appointed secret military tribunal [e]
Significant cases
There have been an interesting set of combinations involving the citizenship of individuals detained, where they were apprehended, who detained them, and where they were subsequently detained. A basic first look shows some of the initial combinations:
}Legislation
- Detainee Treatment Act [r]: A 2005 Congressional act specifying explicit standards for prisoners in the custody of the U.S. military [e]
- Military Commissions Act [r]: Add brief definition or description
References
- ↑ Joint Resolution: Authorization for Use of Military Force, September 18, 2001, Public Law 107-40 [S. J. RES. 23]
- ↑ Steven G. Bradley, Principal Deputy Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice (January 15, 2009), Memorandum Regarding Status of Certain OLC Opinions Issued in the Aftermath of the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001
- ↑ Jay Bybee, Office of the Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice, Memorandum for Alberto R, Gonzales, Counsel to the President, Re: Standards of conduct for interrogation under 18 USC [United States Code sections 2340-2340A]
Date | Citizenship | Place of capture | Captured by | Detained by | Person(s) and cases | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002 | U.S. | U.S. | U.S. FBI | U.S. military in U.S. | Jose Padilla, Rumsfeld v. Padilla | SCOTUS ordered trial |
2004 | U.S. | Aghanistan | U.S. Troops | U.S. troops (Bagram?) | Hamdi Hamdi v. Rumsfeld | SCOTUS ordered trial |
2006 | Yememi citizen | Aghanistan | Afghan troops, turned over to U.S. | U.S. troops | Hamdan v. Rumsfeld | SCOTUS ordered trial |