Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi v. Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, No. 17-5067 · judgment August 7, 2018
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Question presented
In Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507, 520 (2004), this Court understood the Authorization for Use of Military Force to include implicit authority to detain for the duration of the relevant conflict combatants who fought U.S. forces in Afghanistan. It cautioned, however, that “[i]f the practical circumstances of a given conflict are entirely unlike those of the conflicts that informed the development of the law of war, that understanding may unravel.” Twice in the past decade, that prescient warning was repeated. See Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723, 797-98 (2008) (“Because our Nation’s past military conflicts have been of limited duration, it has been possible to leave the outer boundaries of war powers undefined. If, as some fear, terrorism continues to pose dangerous threats to us for years to come, the Court might not have this luxury.”); Hussain v. Obama, 572 U.S. 1079 (2014) (statement of Breyer, J., respecting denial of certiorari) (noting the Court had not “considered whether . . . either the AUMF or the Constitution limits the duration of detention” when the conflict’s circumstances are entirely unlike those of prior conflicts). Today, seventeen years after the United States detained Moath al-Alwi at Guantá- namo Bay, the questions presented are: I. Whether the government’s statutory authority to detain Mr. al-Alwi has unraveled. II. Alternatively, whether the government’s statutory authority to detain Mr. al-Alwi has expired because the conflict in which he was captured has ended.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Ramzi Kassem
City University of New York School of Law
For respondent
Noel John Francisco
Jones Day
Argument & decision
Decided June 10, 2019.
Proceedings
- Jun 10 2019Petition DENIED. Statement of Justice Breyer respecting the denial of certiorari. (Detached Opinion) Justice Kavanaugh took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition.
- Jun 03 2019DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/6/2019.
- May 28 2019DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/30/2019.
- May 20 2019DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/23/2019.
- May 13 2019DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/16/2019.
- Apr 17 2019DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/9/2019.
- Apr 16 2019Reply of petitioner Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi filed.
- Apr 03 2019Brief of respondents Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, et al. in opposition filed.
- Mar 12 2019Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including April 3, 2019.
- Mar 11 2019Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 13, 2019 to April 3, 2019, submitted to The Clerk.
- Feb 11 2019Motion to extend the time to file a response from February 11, 2019 to March 13, 2019, submitted to The Clerk.
- Feb 11 2019Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including March 13, 2019.
- Jan 07 2019Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including February 11, 2019.
- Jan 03 2019Motion to extend the time to file a response from January 10, 2019 to February 11, 2019, submitted to The Clerk.
- Dec 05 2018Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 10, 2019)
- Oct 18 2018Application (18A406) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until December 5, 2018.
- Oct 15 2018Application (18A406) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from November 5, 2018 to December 5, 2018, submitted to The Chief Justice.