Boumediene v. Bush, Supreme Court Decision

Published June 12, 2008

This Supreme Court decision ruled that under the U.S. Constitution, federal courts can review habeas corpus petitions of "enemy combatants" held at Guantanamo and that the Military Commissions Act of 2006 did not suspend that right for detainees. It was decided on June 12, 2008.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, "It bears repeating that our opinion does not address the content of the law that governs petitioners' detention.That is a matter yet to be determined. We hold that petitioners may invoke the fundamental procedural protections of habeas corpus. The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinarytimes. Liberty and security can be reconciled; and in oursystem they are reconciled within the framework of the law. The Framers decided that habeas corpus, a right offirst importance, must be a part of that framework, a part of that law."

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Decision

Boumediene v. Bush

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