Power Misdirected: Did the Boumediene v. Bush Decision Represent a Victory for Separation of Powers?


 

Publication Date: January 2008

Publisher: Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace

Author(s): Peter Berkowitz

Research Area: Justice

Keywords: Boumediene v. Bush; Law and Justice; Guantánamo

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

In its decision in Boumediene v. Bush (2008), the Supreme Court has decided that foreign nationals captured overseas and detained abroad as enemy combatants have a constitutional privilege to challenge their detentions in U.S. civilian courts. The decision represents judicial overreach rather than a victory for separation of powers.