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Rasul v. Bush: Shafiq Rasul, et al., Petitioners, v. George W. Bush, President of the United States, et al.,Respondents. And Fa

Supreme Court of the United States, Nos. 03-334 and 03-343, 01/14/04

On Writ Of Certiorari To The United States Court Of Appeals For The District Of Columbia Circuit, Brief of Amici Curiae Bipartisan Coalition of National and International Non-Governmental Organizations in Support of Petitioners

    "The Petitioners in this case claim that they never “engaged in hostilities against America.” Odah v. United States, 321 F.3d 1134, 1140 (D.C. Cir. 2003). They say they are innocents caught up in the fog of war, and they have now been imprisoned for more than a year and a half. Id. at 1136-37, 1140. Yet according to the Court of Appeals, no court has jurisdiction to hear their claims. The Court of Appeals did not base its decision on the principle that courts must shy from the battlefield, since the Petitioners were moved far from the fields of war long ago. According to the Court of Appeals, the principle is simpler: the Executive can do what it wishes to aliens abroad – even innocent aliens – because no law protects them and no court may hear their pleas. That is a stunning proposition, and Amici emphatically reject it."

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