Circuit Court decisions out; no detainee ruling
on Feb 16, 2007 at 10:30 am
UPDATED to 11:12 a.m.
After an hour and 11 minute delay, the D.C. Circuit Court on Friday released three opinions on a regular decision day. Once again, the Court did not decide the two packets of cases involving the legal fate of hundreds of foreign nationals detained at the military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
There was no explanation for Friday’s delay in releasing opinions; it should be noted, though, that much of official Washington has been impacted by wintry weather over the past three days.
The Circuit Court has been considering the detainee cases for nearly two years, although the most recent round of briefing was completed last Nov. 20. There has been no explanation for its inability to decide the cases since then. The lead case in the group is Bounediene v. Bush (05-5062).
On Thursday, the Justice Department filed a response to a motion by the detainees asking the Circuit Court to rule promptly. The Department took no position on whether the decision should be expedited, saying it “defers to this Court as to the question of when it is ready to issue an opinion.” But the government did oppose the detainees’ separate request to lift the District Court stays on further action in pending detainee habeas cases. District Court judges have issued more than 120 such stays.
