2002
First detainees held at Guantánamo Bay
The military begins holding people captured in the conflict with al-Qaeda at the naval base in Cuba, outside the ordinary jurisdiction of federal courts.
Boumediene v. Bush 2008
Do detainees at Guantánamo Bay have the constitutional privilege of habeas corpus?
553 U.S. 723 (2008)War and national security
- The question
- Do detainees at Guantánamo Bay have the constitutional privilege of habeas corpus?
- What the Court held
- Yes. The Suspension Clause applies there, and the substitute review Congress provided was inadequate.
- The vote
- 5–4
- Read the opinion
- 553 U.S. 723 (2008), full text
This page summarizes the Court’s judgment in neutral terms. The opinion, concurrences and dissents are the authority; read them for the reasoning.