* Kiyemba v. Obama (S.Ct. Apr. 18, 2011) (cert. denied)
The Supreme Court today denied cert in Kiyemba, the long-running litigation involving the remaining Uighur detainees at GTMO. The D.C. Circuit had held that courts lack authority to compel the government to release these individuals into the United States. Justice Breyer, joined by Justices Kennedy, Ginsburg, and Sotomayor, issued a “statement … respecting the denial” which culminated in the following statement:
In my view, these offers [i.e., two prior offers of resettlement], the lack of any meaningful challenge as to their appropriateness, and the Government’s uncontested commitment to continue to work to resettle petitioners transform petitioners’ claim. Under present circumstances, I see no Government-imposed obstacle to petitioners’ timely release and appropriate resettlement. Accordingly, I join in the Court’s denial of certiorari. Should circumstances materially change, however, petitioners may of course raise their original issue (or related issues) again in the lower courts and in this Court.