Hamdi v. Rumsfeld

U.S. citizen Yaser Hamdi (plaintiff) was seized in Afghanistan on suspicion of fighting alongside the Taliban and, after being identified as an American citizen, was transferred to military detention within the United States; the government claimed authority under the post-9/11 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) to hold him indefinitely as an enemy combatant without formal charges, trial, or access to counsel. Hamdi's father filed a habeas petition alleging the detention violated due process, and the government's evidentiary support consisted solely of a short summary declaration (the Mobbs Report); the district court found this insufficient to justify indefinite detention without trial, but the Fourth Circuit reversed, upholding the detention as constitutional, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.