D.C. Circuit Won’t Review Enemy Combatant Status of Gitmo Detainees

About 175 cases filed by Guantanamo detainees seeking a review of their enemy combatant designations won’t get a federal appeals court hearing under a decision today by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

The appeals court ruled it no longer has jurisdiction to hear challenges to enemy combatant determinations because of a Supreme Court ruling granting Guantanamo detainees a right to habeas corpus, report SCOTUSblog and How Appealing.

Because the Supreme Court struck down the section of a federal law barring habeas appeals, the law’s provisions for enemy combatant reviews must also fall, the court said in its opinion (PDF posted by How Appealing).