jurisprudence2002
Jan. 9: Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo's internal Justice Department memo declares that the Geneva Conventions and the War Crimes Act don't apply to al-Qaida or the Taliban.
Jan 11: First prisoners arrive at Guantanamo.
Feb. 19: Rasul files first habeas corpus action in D.C. federal district court.
March 2002: Abu Zubaydah captured in Pakistan.
March 1: Al Odah files second habeas corpus action.
March 8: Jose Padilla arrested at Chicago's O'Hare Airport.
June 2: President Bush declares Padilla an enemy combatant. Padilla files a petition for habeas corpus in the Southern District of New York, arguing that his detention violates the Constitution.
July 30: Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly consolidates Rasul and Al Odah and dismisses both cases.
Aug. 1: Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee's DoJ memo narrows the definition of torture to methods that cause "severe physical or mental pain or suffering." Defines "severe pain" as involving damage that rises "to the level of death, organ failure, or the permanent impairment of a significant body function."
Over the course of 2002: CIA tapes interrogations of Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.
2003
Spring 2003: Office of Legal Counsel head Jack Goldsmith withdraws Yoo and Bybee torture memos.
July 3: President names Hamdan and others to face military commission trials.
2004
April 6: Hamdan files habeas corpus action challenging military commissions.
April 2004: Abu Ghraib scandal breaks.
June 2004: Yoo and Bybee torture memos leak.
June 28: In a 6-3 decision in Rasul, the Supreme Court decides that Guantanamo prisoners may bring habeas corpus actions in court. The continuing litigation over habeas corpus becomes known as "Al Odah." Supreme Court also rules that Padilla should have filed his habeas petition in South Carolina, where he is being held in a military brig, instead of New York.
July 9: Military charges Hamdan with conspiracy.
July 12: Boumediene files habeas corpus action in D.C. federal district court.
July 22: 9/11 Commission releases its public report.
July 29: Navy Secretary Gordon England issues memorandum implementing Combatant Status Review Tribunals.
Nov. 22: Hamdan files petition before the Supreme Court.
2005
Jan. 5: Guantanamo detainees file a motion asking for the preservation of all evidence relating to their detention.
Jan. 21: Judge Richard Leon of the D.C. District Court grants the government's motion to dismiss Boumediene cases on the grounds that Guantanamo prisoners have no legal rights.
Jan. 31: Judge Joyce Hens Green of the D.C. District Court denies the government's motion to dismiss Al Odah cases on the grounds that Guantanamo prisoners have rights to constitutional due process under the Geneva Conventions.
February/March 2005: Office of Legal Counsel head Stephen Bradbury writes a new secret DoJ torture memo endorsing the CIA's harshest interrogation techniques.
March 7: Judge Gladys Kessler issues a preservation of evidence order in the case of Jarallah al-Marri.
April 23: Moussaoui pleads guilty to terror charges.
May: Judge Leonie Brinkema orders government to turn over interrogation evidence in Moussaoui case.
July 18: Judge Richard W. Roberts issues a preservation of evidence order in two detainee cases.
Sept. 9: The 4th Circuit holds that the president has the authority to order Padilla detained as an enemy combatant.
November 2005: CIA interrogation tapes destroyed
Nov. 7: Supreme Court grants cert in Hamdan.
Nov. 22: Padilla indicted in federal court for conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists, and transferred out of military custody.
Dec. 30: President signs Detainee Treatment Act of 2005.
2006
April 3: Supreme Court denies Padilla's second application for cert.
May 4: Jurors reject death penalty for Moussaoui.
June 29: In Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, Supreme Court 1) holds that DTA does not apply to cases already filed and 2) invalidates the president's military commissions as unauthorized by Congress and violating the Geneva Conventions.
Sept. 6: Responding to ruling in Hamdan, president announces in nationally televised address that 1) he has brought 14 "high-value" prisoners to GTMO from secret CIA prisons, and 2) he has sent legislation to Congress to authorize new military commissions to try these prisoners for war crimes. President urges speedy passage of the legislation so the military can begin to try the prisoners without further delay. As of Nov. 28, 2007, none of the 14 prisoners has been charged with an offense and no military commission trial has been held.
Oct. 17: President signs Military Commissions Act.
2007
Feb. 20: Based on the MCA, the D.C. Circuit (Judges Randolph, Sentelle, Rogers) vacates the district court decisions in Boumediene and Al Odah and orders the district court to dismiss both cases. Al Odah and Boumediene cases become known by the single name Boumediene.
March 5: Boumediene files cert petition at Supreme Court.
April 2: Supreme Court (6-3) denies cert in Boumediene.
April 27: Boumediene files rehearing petition at the Supreme Court.
June 29: Supreme Court grants rehearing and cert in Boumediene.
Aug 16: Padilla convicted in federal district court.
Dec. 5: Supreme Court hears oral argument in Boumediene and Al Odah.
Dec. 7: The New York Times publishes revelations about the CIA's destruction of interrogation tapes.
