Federal Judiciary

Delay denied on detainee transfers

By Akin Gump Supreme Court Practice Group

Dividing 2-1, the D.C. Circuit Court on Wednesday refused to put on hold its ruling in April barring federal judges from putting any limits on the government’s decisions to transfer detainees out of Guantanamo Bay.  Lawyers for five Chinese Muslim Uighur prisoners wanted the decision stayed until after the Supreme Court had acted on an appeal they are planning to file.  The order denying a stay in Kiyemba v. Obama (Circuit docket 05-5487) can be found here.  A post discussing the plan to take the case to the Supreme Court can be read here.

The new case, perhaps now known as Kiyemba II, bears the same title as a case the prisoners now have pending at the Supreme Court (docket 08-1234).  That case involves a D.C. Circuit decision that federal judges have no authority to order the transfer of a Guantanamo detainee into mainland U.S.  The Court is expected to act on that case in the new Term that starts Oct. 5 — unless the Uighurs are re-settled to another country before then.

In Wednesday’s Circuit Court action, Judges Douglas H. Ginsburg and Brett M. Kavanaugh voted to deny a stay of the mandate in Kiyemba II.  Judge Thomas B. Griffith would grant the stay, the order said.

Full post as published by SCOTUSBLOG on August 26, 2009 (boomark / email).