"Hamdan v. Rumsfeld: Amicus Curiae Brief of Law Professors in Support o" by Theodore J. St. Antoine
 

Document Type

Brief

Publication Date

1-6-2006

Abstract

This amicus curiae brief in support of Petitioner Hamdan is submitted pursuant to Rule 37 of the Rules of this Court, with the written consent of both petitioner and respondent, whose consent letters have been filed with the Clerk of Court. Amici are law professors, lawyers, and constitutional law scholars who focus professionally on the constitutional questions presented by the President's November 13, 2001 Military Order, Title 3, Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War Against Terrorism, 66 Fed. Reg. 57,833 (Nov. 13, 2001). The issue addressed by this amicus curiae brief - whether the President of the United States may establish military commissions in the absence of a formal declaration of war or explicit Congressional authorization - presents a classic constitutional law issue with which amici are knowledgeable, and about which they are deeply concerned.

The November 13, 2001 Military Order, Title 3 - Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War Against Terrorism ("2001 Order") violates the separation of powers doctrine because it gives the Secretary of Defense the authority to create military commissions to determine offenses and decide the guilt of non-citizens suspected of involvement in terrorist activities. 2001 Order, 4(c)(2)-(3), (6)-(7), 66 Fed. Reg. 57,833 (Nov. 13, 2001). The Constitution grants the executive no power to establish military commissions so far removed from the exigencies of war. Nor did Congress grant the President the authority to establish these commissions, either explicitly by statute or implicitly through a formal declaration of war. As a result, the President may not displace functioning civilian courts through the creation of military commissions.

Congress may, through express legislative action, authorize a president to do what the President has done here. In the absence of such express legislative action, both the military commissions, and the President's exercise of the judicial power in trying Petitioner Salim Ahmed Hamdan, violate the Constitution's express terms.

Comments

Amicus: Aaron, Richard I.; Abel, Richard L.; Abraham, David; Abrams, Roger I.; Ackerman, Bruce; Adamson, Bryan; Adler, John M.; Aiken, Jane E.; Aldana, Raquel; Alexander, Frank S.; Alfini, James J.; Angelos, Claudia; Ansley, Fran; Appell, Annette Ruth; Appleton, Susan Frelich; Arriola, Elvia R.; Avery, Michael; Babcock, Hope M.; Bailey, James Francis III; Baldwin, Fletcher N.; Ball, Milner S.; Banoff, Barbara Ann; Bartow, Ann; Batey, Robert; Beale, Linda M.; Becker, Loftus; Becker, Susan J.; Beckerman, John S.; Bell, Derrick; Berger, Marilyn J.; Bilder, Richard; Bitensky, Susan H.; Bix, Brian; Blair, D. Marianne; Blakey, Walker J.; Blasi, Gary; Blum, Carolyn Patty; Blumenson, Eric; Blumoff, Ted Ph.D.; Bobis, Charles S.; Bonnie, Richard J.; Bosniak, Linda; Boss, Amelia H.; Bostian, Ida L.; Bress, Frank A.; Brodin, Mark S.; Brown, Josie; Bruch, Elizabeth M.; Buhai, Sande L.; Burke-White, William; Cantrell, Deborah J.; Capulong, Eduardo R.C.; Carter, William M. Jr.; Chang, Robert S.; Chase, Anthony Tirado; Chavkin, David F.; Chemerinsky, Erwin; Chevigny, Paul; Chomsky, Carol; Chon, Margaret; Clark, Mary L.; Clark, Roger S.; Cohn, Marjorie; Cole, Liz Ryan; Conk, George W.; Copelon, Rhonda; Coyne, Randall; Crocker, Thomas P.; Crosson, Cathy E.; D'Amato, Anthony; Vega, Constance de la; Danielsen, Dan; Dantzler, Deryl D.; Davis, Angela J.; Davis, Jeffrey; Davis, Michael H.; Deale, Frank; Dimond, Diane; DiPippa, John M.A.; Dorff, Michael B.; Dorsen, Norman; Driesen, David M.; Duke, Steven; Dutile, Fernand N.; Edwards, George E.; Edwards, Linda H.; Ehrenreich, Nancy; Elijah, Jill Soffiyah; Farina, Cynthia R.; Farley, Anthony Paul; Farley, Christine Haight; Fein, Marvin A.; Fenton, Zanita E.; Fernow, Todd D.; Field, Thomas G. Jr.; Fischer, Judith D.; Fisher, Linda E.; Fleming, James E.; Flym, John; Fort, Denise D.; Frank, Sally; Frank, Katherine M.; Freedman, Ann E.; Freedman, Monroe H.; Froomkin, A. Michael; Futterman, Craig B.; Gabel, Peter; Gale, Mary Ellen; Galowitz, Paula; Garrett, Brandon L.; Glennon, Theresa; Glick, Brian; Goldfarb, Phyllis; Goldman, Alvin L.; Goldstein, Anne B.; Gonzales, Carmen G.; Gordon, Jennifer; Gordon, Robert W.; Gotanda, Neil; Green, Stuart P.; Gross, Ariela J.; Guggenheim, Martin; Hamilton, Vivian; Hammer, Gail; Harring, Sidney L.; Harris, George C.; Harrison, Keith M.; Hart, Melissa; Trucios-Haynes, Enid; Hench, Virginia E.; Henderson, Lynne; Hessler, Kathy; Heyman, Steven J.; Hillman, Elizabeth Lutes; Hing, Bill Ong; Hollinger, Joan H.; Holt, Wythe; Hongsberg, Peter Jan; Howell, K. Babe; Huie, Marsha; Hyde, Alan; Iglesias, Tim; Jamar, Steven D.; Jones, Darryll K.; Jones, Donald; Judrez, Jose Roberto Jr; Kang, Jerry; Kaufman, Eileen; Kelly, Lisa; Kendall, Walter; Klare, Karl; Koppel, Glenn; Krent, Harold J.; Krieger, Stefan H.; Kukin, Bailey; Lasson, Kenneth; Law, Syliva; Lazar, Lydia Beatrice; LeClercq, Terri; Levin, David I.; Levin, Leslie C.; Levy, Martin L.; Littleton, Christine A.; Lobel, Jules; Loffredo, Stephen; Lowe, John S.; Lyon, Beth; Lyons, David; Macfarlane, Hether C.; Maguigan, Holly; Maranville, Deborah; Markovits, Daniel; Martin, Susan Jane; Maute, Judith L.; McCluskey, Martha; McMorrow, Judith A.; Meltsner, Michael; Meisel, Alan; Meyer, Carlin; Mezey, Naomi; Miller, Alice M.; Miller, David W.; Miller, Jonathan; Milstein, Elliott S.; Minow, Martha; Montoya, Margaret; Moore, Jennifer; Moran, David A.; Motala, Ziyad; Mounts, Suzanne; Perlin, Michael; Munro, Gregory S.; Myers, Eleanor; Narula, Smita; Neal, Odeana; Novick, Sheldon M.; O'Brien, Molly Townes; Ohlbaum, Edward D.; Ota, Nancy K.; Parten, Dan; Perry, Michael J.; Picker, Sidney Jr; Piety, Tamara R.; Pope, James G.; Post, David G.; Price, Polly J.; Purcell, Edward A. Jr.; Putz, C.Delos; Quigley, William P.; Rayner, Martha; Rector, Ann M.; Robbins, Ira P.; Roberts, Terence W.; Roberts, Thomas E.; Roisman, Florence Wagman; Romero, Victor C.; Roosevelt, Kermit; Rosen, Richard A.; Rosenbaum, Stephen A.; Rosenblatt, Rand E.; Rubin, Professor Dale F.; Rudstein, David S.; Satterthwaite, Margaret L.; Schatzi, George; Schneider, Elizabeth M.; Schroth, Anne N.; Schulhofer, Stephen J.; Schwarta, Herman; Sedler, Robert A.; Selbin, Jeff; Semel, Elisabeth; Seng, Michael P.; Sergienko, Gregory S.; Shaffer, Butler; Shapiro, Julie; Shaviro, Daniel; Sheehan, Katherine C.; Sherman, Edward F.; Shores, David F.; Siegel, Andrew M.; Siegel, David M.; Silbey, Jessica; Silver, Marjorie; Silverstein, Eileen; Simon, Dan; Spann, Girardeau A.; Starkis, Andrej Thomas; Steiker, Carol; Stern, Nat; Stewart, Margaret; Strait, John A.; Strossen, Nadine; St. Antoine, Theodore J.; Tamanaha, Brian Z.; Tarlock, Dan; Teachout, Peter; Thronson, David B.; Tibble, Lance; Tractenberg, Paul L.; Vorspan, Rachel; Underwood, Stephen D.; Velvel, Lawrence R.; Waits, Kathleen; ward, Ettie; Weinreb, Lloyd L.; Weissbrodt, David; Weissman, Daborah; Weston, Burns H.; Wile, Philip H.; Williams, Dan; Wilson, Charlie; Wishnie, Michael J.; Wizner, Stephen; Wojcik, Mark E.; Yaroshefsky, Ellen

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