Combatant Status Review Tribunal - U.S. Judicial Branch Appeals

U.S. Judicial Branch Appeals

Originally the Bush Presidency asserted that the captives had no right to appeal. Captives who had "next friends" willing to initiate the habeas corpus process filed appeals before the United States Judicial Branch. Rasul v. Bush was the first appeal to make its way to the Supreme Court of the United States. The creation of the Combatant Status Review Tribunals was a side effect of Rasul v. Bush.

Through the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 and the Military Commissions Act of 2006 the United States Congress moved to first limit, and then completely curtail the captive's ability to file habeas corpus appeals.

The Supreme Court ruled on the outstanding habeas corpus appeals in Al Odah v. United States andBoumediene v. Bush, discussed below.

The Military Commission Act does provide a process where captives can appeal the Combatant Status Review Tribunal had properly followed OARDEC's own rules when it confirmed their enemy combatant status. If and when captives are able to file these appeals they would be heard before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Emma Schwartz, in the US News and World Report, on August 30, 2007, reported that her sources told her: "...Up to one fourth of the department's own civil appellate staff has recently opted out of handling the government's cases against detainee appeals."

Several amalgamated cases have been initiated in the DC Circuit Court. There is controversy over whether the Appeal Court will have access to all the evidence against the captives. As of May 2008 none of the cases has actually come to the point where the judges would consider the merits of the case.