“[t]he laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times"

Justice Anthony Kennedy in Boumedienne v. Bush (2007)

Camp Delta holding facility for detainees held at Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

PLAY! The National Security Decision Making Game

CROSS-LINK: The September 11 Terrorist Attacks

 Rights in Conflict: National Security

• (Link to Module 5 INVESTIGATE in eBook)

The Guantanamo Cases

Habeas Corpus:  The Guantanamo Cases

“Habeas corpus” - the right to go to court and force the government to explain why it's holding you. “Have the body” 

• It means that the government can’t hold you without giving you the right to appear in a court of law and challenged your detention.

• Congress has the power to suspend habeas corpus in Article 1 Section 9 of the Constitution - only in cases of rebellion or invasion (Suspense Clause) 

• Habeas corpus has been at the center of more than one wartime crisis - from the Civil War and WWII through the War on Terror  

Historic National Security Court Cases

National Security Court Cases: Then and Now 

An ongoing national security court case (2024), FBI v. Fikre

• Yonas Fikre, who states he was mistakenly put on the No Fly List. Fikre said that the government did not provide him with a fair process to challenge the indefinite flight ban.
• During litigation, the government removed Mr. Fike from the List and sought dismissal of his lawsuit on that basis.
• The district court twice dismissed the case as moot. The ninth circuit court of appeals reversed the dismissals, then the government appealed to the Supreme Court.

Court Cases Discriminating Against Immigrants 

Declared National Emergencies Under the National Emergencies Act