Bahlul Submits Petition for Hearing En Banc in D.C. Circuit
A few weeks back we noted that Ali Hamza Ahmad al Bahlul filed his petitioner brief in the D.C. Circuit Court in his appeal from the military commission's judgment and sentence against him. Now comes his petition for the D.C.
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A few weeks back we noted that Ali Hamza Ahmad al Bahlul filed his petitioner brief in the D.C. Circuit Court in his appeal from the military commission's judgment and sentence against him. Now comes his petition for the D.C. Circuit Court to hear his appeal initially in en banc.
Counsel for Bahlul directs his focus on the difference between Bahlul's case and that of Hamdan, who is the other detainee appealing his military commission judgment and sentence:
The central issue in Mr. Bahlul’s appeal is whether a military commission convened in Guantanamo Bay can be given jurisdiction over charges of inchoate conspiracy, inchoate solicitation and the 2339B variant of material support for terrorism. In Hamdan, the petitioner asks whether a military commission convened in Guantanamo Bay can be given jurisdiction over both the 2339A and 2339B variants of material support for terrorism. Together, this Court has been presented with three different and conflicting arguments respecting the lawful scope of the Military Commissions Act. ... Mr. Bahlul, by way of contrast to both the petitioner in Hamdan and the government, only raises constitutional grounds in the alternative to what he submits are adequate statutory grounds that avoid the resolution of any constitutional claim. See, e.g., Brief for Petitioner at 12-13, 15, 38-41, Bahlul v. United States (D.C. Cir. 2011) (No. 11-1324) (“Pet. Brief”). ... Mr. Bahlul therefore does not ask this Court to find that the statute is unconstitutional in all its applications. See, e.g., Pet. Brief at 14-15, 34-37, 41. In contrast to Mr. Hamdan, Mr. Bahlul is willing to concede that certain non-warcrimes could be lawfully tried by a 47A commission convened by a military commander in an area of ongoing combat operations or military government. Here, by contrast, the convening authority was a civil servant with no command authority over any battlespace. Mr. Bahlul’s asserted claim for relief is therefore only that this particular convening authority acted ultra vires in diverting the prosecution of these particular statutory offenses, which the government concedes are not war crimes, to a law-of-war commission convened in Guantanamo Bay. See, e.g., Pet. Brief at 34-36.Counsel argues that the initial hearing should be en banc, despite the uniqueness of granting that petition:
While Mr. Bahlul recognizes that it is highly unusual to request hearing en banc prior to a three-judge panel ruling on the merits, he submits that doing so would serve the interests of judicial economy. Indeed, given the parallel postures of the Hamdan and Bahlul appeals, their common issues risk presenting a situation similar to what this Court confronted in Spagnola v. Mathis, 859 F.2d 223 (D.C. Cir 1988). There, two separate panels were reaching “separate, conflicting opinions regarding the availability of Bivens remedies to litigants challenging federal personnel actions.” Id. at 225. “Rather than allow a race to the printshop to determine circuit precedent – a procedure that would be quite destructive of collegiality – the court followed the sensible path of allowing both decisions to issue on the same day and then granting the inevitable suggestions for rehearing en banc.” Ginsburg & Falk at 1024. This Court’s grant of an en banc hearing would therefore serve judicial economy by pre-empting conflicting panel decisions on cases raising novel issues of exceptional importance. See, e.g., Cafeteria & Restaurant Workers Union v. McElroy, 284 F.2d 173, 193 (D.C. Cir. 1960) (Fahy, J., dissenting) (“[H]ad a request for en banc hearing of this case been made before the [panel] heard it, or even before the [panel] decided it, such a hearing might reasonably have been granted because of the obvious importance of the case.”).Referring to the importance that both the President and Congress have placed on the use of military commissions to try alleged terrorists, Bahlul's counsel says:
The Military Commissions Act was described by President Bush as “one of the most important pieces of legislation in the war on terror.” Remarks on Signing the Military Commissions Act of 2006, 42 Wkly. Comp. Pres. Doc. 1831 (Oct. 23, 2006). Congress has closely supervised the proceedings under the Act so far and has amended the Act at least twice in the five years since it was enacted, sometimes in direct response to issues raised during commission proceedings. See, e.g., National Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010, Pub. L. 111-84 §§ 1801, et seq. (2009); National Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2012, Pub. L. 112-81 §§ 1030, 1034 (2011). The government is currently pursuing conspiracy charges against six defendants before 47A commissions in which the death penalty is being sought. These cases include the trial of the alleged planners of the September 11th attacks.Earlier, the government had argued in favor of dismissing Bahlul’s appeal, but the 3-judge panel ruled against the motion back in February. Ben covered the back-and-forth here and here, and we covered the CMCR’s ruling here, here, here, and here. Oral argument hasn’t yet been scheduled.
Raffaela Wakeman is a Senior Director at In-Q-Tel. She started her career at the Brookings Institution, where she spent five years conducting research on national security, election reform, and Congress. During this time she was also the Associate Editor of Lawfare. From there, Raffaela practiced law at the U.S. Department of Defense for four years, advising her clients on privacy and surveillance law, cybersecurity, and foreign liaison relationships. She departed DoD in 2019 to join the Majority Staff of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where she oversaw the Intelligence Community’s science and technology portfolios, cybersecurity, and surveillance activities. She left HPSCI in May 2021 to join IQT.
Raffaela received her BS and MS in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2009 and her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 2015, where she was recognized for her commitment to public service with the Joyce Chiang Memorial Award. While at the Department of Defense, she was the inaugural recipient of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s General Counsel Award for exhibiting the highest standards of leadership, professional conduct, and integrity.
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