Legal Memo

Unit 5 Legal Memo

ISIS/ISIL is waging all-out war on Iraq. Pursuant to a request from the Iraqi government for military aid, the U.S. Congress passed the “ISIS Authorization of the Use of Military Force,” which authorized the President “to use all necessary and appropriate force against ISIS, it members, agents, and collaborators in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against Iraq or the United States by ISIS, its members, agents, and collaborators.” Pursuant to this AUMF, the U.S., under direction of the President, secured Baghdad with ground troops and forced ISIS to retreat to Syria, where the majority of the fighting now takes place. ISIS still desires to take over Iraq and occasionally conducts covert operations in and around Baghdad. During a ground invasion in Syria, U.S. armed forces captured Enemy Combatant, an Iraqi citizen, on the battlefield. U.S. forces immediately transferred Enemy to Abu Ghraib prison, in Baghdad. Prior to sending troops to Iraq, the US entered into a lease agreement with Iraq, which, “for the duration of hostilities,” “consigned all facilities and land located at Abu Ghraib prison owned by Iraq, for use by the United States for military purposes.” Great Britain, which also sent troops to Iraq to fight ISIS, also uses part of Abu Ghraib prison for military purposes. When captured, Enemy carried a rifle, a pad of paper, and a pen. The U.S. soldier that captured Enemy issued a sworn declaration stating that Enemy was firing shots at U.S. armed forces and was captured during, and from the middle of, a battle against ISIS. After being transferred to Abu Ghraib, the Combatant Status Review Tribunal, composed of two senior U.S. military officers, conducted a hearing and unanimously determined that Enemy was an enemy combatant. At the hearing, Mr. Combatant was provided a “personal representative” and allowed the opportunity to call witnesses; he called none. Instead, he continuously repeated, “I am a journalist.” Based on the declaration of the solider that captured Enemy and the testimony of another solider, the CSRT determined Enemy to be an enemy combatant and ordered that he be detained until hostilities were over. Enemy filed a writ of habeas corpus in the District Court for the District of Columbia. The writ came to Judge Walton. You are a clerk for district Judge Walton. Judge Walton asks you to write a legal memorandum discussing whether (1) he should grant the writ (in other words, does the constitutional right of habeas corpus apply at Abu Ghraib prison based on the cases in this Unit?) and (2) whether the President has authority to detain Enemy. (Note: the second question can and should be answered in a paragraph or two.) See the syllabus for the due date of this assignment. Organize your memo by providing an introduction and then having a separate section for each question.