Hamdan's case dismissed, but new Act partly invalid
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Posted by Lyle Denniston at 05:09 PM

U.S. District Judge James Robertson, in a mixed ruling on constitutional and statutory law, ruled on Wednesday that Congress had not validly suspended the historic "writ of habeas corpus" in the new Military Commissions Act of 2006. Robertson, however, found that Congress had legally ordered the dismissal of all pending habeas cases filed in U.S. federal courts by foreign nationals being held by the U.S. military. Thus, the judge dismissed the case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who could face war crimes charges before a new "military commission." Finally, Robertson ruled that Hamdan, as an alien with no voluntary ties to the U.S., had no constitutional right to challenge his detentioin in federal court.

The only individuals who could benefit from Robertson's ruling on the question of suspending habeas would be those who were taken captive during the war on terrorism and were either U.S. citizens, or were foreign nationals who -- unlike Hamdan -- had established "a significant relationship" to the U.S., by living here or by otherwise voluntarily establishing such a relationship. This latter finding, if followed by other courts, could be of benefit in the case pending in the Fourth Circuit Court involving a permanent resident alien who was captured in his home in Peoria, Ill., and is still being held a captive by the U.S. military. (See this post from earlier Wednesday on the Al-Marri case.)

Robertson's 22-page opinion explaining his ruling can be found here..His one-page order of dismissal can be found here.