Circuit Watcher

07-5258 Belbacha v. Bush
Before: GINSBURG, RANDOLPH, and GRIFFITH, Circuit Judges.
GINSBURG, Circuit Judge: In 2005 Ahmed Belbacha, an Algerian national, petitioned the district court for a writ of habeas corpus in order to challenge his detention at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. In July 2007, with his petition still pending, he sought interim relief barring his transfer to Algeria on the ground that he is likely to be tortured by the government of Algeria and by an extremist organization that has threatened him in the past. The district court declined preliminarily to bar Belbacha’s transfer on the ground it lacked the power so to do, Belbacha v. Bush, No. 05-2349 (July 27, 2007), citing the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA), Pub. L. No. 109-366, 120 Stat. 2600, and our decision in Boumediene v. Bush, 476 F.3d 981 (2007), cert. granted, 127 S. Ct. 3078 (June 29, 2007), in which we upheld the constitutionality of the MCA provision removing the courts’ jurisdiction over detainees’ habeas petitions.
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Belbacha noticed an appeal and simultaneously asked this court to bar his transfer pending its resolution. A motions panel denied Belbacha’s request for a stay but ordered the case heard on an expedited basis. Belbacha, No. 07-5258 (Aug. 2, 2007). After hearing oral argument, this panel temporarily enjoined his transfer in order to preserve our jurisdiction over the appeal. We now remand this matter to the district court for further proceedings. …
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RANDOLPH, Circuit Judge, dissenting: Students of federal courts will be surprised to learn that district judges have jurisdiction to issue preliminary injunctions in cases in which they have no jurisdiction to issue permanent injunctions. That is the majority’s position here. … Belbacha v. Bush