Opinion of the Court
Non-American Detainees in Guantánamo Bay Can Challenge Confinement in Federal Court
The following is excerpted from the summary of the majority opinion written by Justice Kennedy, as prepared by the Court Reporter of Decisions: Petitioners have the constitutional privilege of habeas corpus. They are not barred from seeking the writ or invoking the Suspension Clause’s protections because they have been designated as enemy combatants or because of their presence at Guantánamo. A brief account of the writ’s history and origins shows that protection for the habeas privilege was one of the few safeguards of liberty specified in a Constitution that, at the outset, had no Bill of Rights; in the system…
