On Tuesday, October 16th, Ames Courtroom was filled with 150 students who were there to watch Jonathan Hafetz, counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, moot his upcoming argument before the 4th Circuit's en banc rehearing of Al-Marri v. Wright.
The event, presented by Dean Kagan, the American Constitution Society, the Federalist Society, and the Appellate Practice Clinic, featured a panel of Professors Jonathan Hacker, Martha Minow, Gerald Neuman, and Mark Tushnet, along with Mr. Mark Fleming '97, a litigation partner at Wilmer Hale.
The case presents some of the most pressing war-on-terrorism legal questions and implicates, among other things, the Authorization of the Use of Military Force, the US PATRIOT Act, the Military Commissions Act, the Due Process Clause, the Suspension Clause, and the President's claims to inherent authority as commander-in-chief. The court must decide whether the President has the authority to seize someone in the United States and detain him there indefinitely as an enemy combatant without review.
Mr. Hafetz is representing Ali Saleh Khalah al-Marri, a Qatari national who was initially arrested in Peoria, Illinois by civilian authorities and charged with domestic crimes. Mr. al-Marri was legally in the United States and was a student at Bradley University. While the criminal proceedings were underway, President George W. Bush issued an Executive Order directing the military to seize him as an enemy combatant. Mr. al-Marri has been held in South Carolina without charge for the past four years.
By seeking habeas corpus, Mr. Hafetz is contending that the government must charge and try him or else release him. A panel of the Fourth Circuit ruled for Mr. al-Marri on June 11, where Judge Diana Gibbon Motz, writing for the majority, held, "Even assuming the truth of the Government's allegations, the President lacks power to order the military to seize and indefinitely detain al-Marri." Judge Hudson, in dissent, argued, "In my view, the appellant was properly designated as an enemy combatant by the President of the United States pursuant to the war powers versted in him by Articles I and II of the United States Constitution and by Congress under the Authorization to Use Military Force."
The court initially had to find jurisdiction, despite the Military Commissions Act, before reaching the merits. Finding for al-Marri will not mean that the government must release him; instead, the government would be forced to charge him with a crime and prosecute him or release him. The entire court granted the government's petition to rehear the case en banc. Arguments are scheduled for October 31, 2007.
The moot offered students the opportunity to watch as an outstanding panel of faculty and practitioner experts pressed an advocate on his or her arguments in an exciting and important case, while the advocate sought to parry the onslaught. After the questioning, the panel offered feedback, and students posed questions.
Many groups across campus promoted the event, including the National Security and the Law Association, the Harvard Immigration Project, and HLS Advocates for Human Rights. Dean Kagan initially conceived the idea of sponsoring this series several years ago, and it has hosted three moots this year: NY State Board of Elections v. Lopez-Torres, Medellin v. Texas, and now Al-Marri v. Wright.
My wife's father is hessaby as in www.hessaby.com (they stole his cash and put it there) and my mother-in-law family is related by marriage tot the Pakravans., who headed the SAVAKPan Am was nicknamed PanIran as the Shah's family was the largest shareholder. I have extreme amount of details of exactly was going on
from the Iranians wanting him to return their assets to other coup attempts to 6 months before the Shah son pretended he was bankrupt in a public trial, to my wifes relative coming to our house talking about the coup and we did not know they were in Washington DC, to the Iran Contra hearings trial that was going to start Feb 20 th, 1989 to the tipping of the coup to the Iranian govt, ,to something in writing I can prove the coup to the Salamon Rushtie Feb 14th insult to islam to get the people on the street to avoid the coup to the Iranian govt announcement of a coup by 'dissent mullahs' announced at the time to the negiotations between the Bush people involved pretending they were going to make a deal to the 'nice' stories plant in US newspapers at the time (including the Post) as part of the negotation to the fact the bomb had to placed out of London based on the flight path as I worked at USAir at the time creating the flight plans for the 'planes to fly themselves' to overt CIA agents around me at the time to the fact that Bollier, the guy who made the timer for the bomb's wide was IRANIAN and the Libyans told me and said they were not allowed to say... there were 3 witness only.. the main one was trashed.. Bollier and a guy whom said he soldm the Libyan a suitcase in Malta.. hence, one the suitcase guy would be left.. the Libyans did not put up a defence in exchange for evidence to trash the main witness on the stand to what an overt CIA agent told me in the US 4 years later.. etc. etc and the details of several coups to the new World bank (my wie's cousin involved who used to work at the work bank)and US loans starting May 1990 to Iran to the fact that PANAm was shut down 18 months later as they thought it would be targeted again because of the Shah connection (the US airlines go in and out of bankruptcy all the time - this was the one of the first US airlines - an ICON) etc
I also know where the Iranian govt officials have money in the US, Canada and UK; the back door dealing etccall me for details.. Barry Lanza 00 44 1786831554.. My father-in-law was a convicted spy given amnesty