D.C. Circuit Dismisses Bagram Habeas Petitions
This Christmas Eve opinion, authored by Circuit Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson for a three-judge panel composed of Judge Thomas B. Griffith and Senior Circuit Judge Stephen F. Williams, affirms the district court's conclusion that it lacks jurisdiction to hear habeas petitions brought by detainees held at Bagram Air Force Base's Parwan Detention Facility.
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This Christmas Eve opinion, authored by Circuit Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson for a three-judge panel composed of Judge Thomas B. Griffith and Senior Circuit Judge Stephen F. Williams, affirms the district court's conclusion that it lacks jurisdiction to hear habeas petitions brought by detainees held at Bagram Air Force Base's Parwan Detention Facility. We covered the oral arguments in these cases earlier this fall.
Since oral arguments, one petitioner, Hamidullah, was repatriated to Pakistan, and the D.C. Circuit ordered briefing on whether the transfer made his case moot. On this issue, the court remands to the district court to determine whether Hamidullah is in the "sole custody" of the Pakistani government.
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.
