Latif V Obama

Latif v Obama in 2011

United States views on international law (based on the document “Digest of U.S. Practice in International Law”): On October 14, 2011, the D.C. Circuit in a 2-1 decision reversed a lower court's grant of the writ of habeas corpus to a Yemeni national and remanded for further consideration. Latif v. Obama, 666 F.3d 746 (D.C. Cir. 2011), 2012 WL 1494924. The majority opinion held that official government intelligence reports should be granted a presumption of regularity. As the majority explained, the presumption of regularity “presumes the government official accurately identified the source and accurately summarized his statement, but it implies nothing about the truth of the underlying non-government source's statement.” Id. at 750. It went on to find that Latif had not met the burden of rebutting the presumption. Id. at 755-56. The majority opinion also held that the lower court failed to make a credibility finding when it credited Latif's declaration in discrediting the key government report that supported his detention, id. at 756, and that it took an “unduly atomized approach” to the evidence in contravention of Circuit precedent, id. at 759.

Judge Tatel dissented, arguing that the court should not apply a presumption of regularity to government reports “produced in the fog of war by a clandestine method that we know almost nothing about.” Id. at 772. He also argued that the majority opinion inappropriately substituted its own fact-finding for the district court's.***

Latif v. Obama

In relation to the international law practice and Latif v. Obama in this world legal Encyclopedia, please see the following section:

Use of Force, Arms Control, Disarmament, Nonproliferation

About this subject:

Use of Force

Under this topic, in the Encyclopedia, find out information on:

• Detainees
• U.S. court decisions and proceeding
• Detainees at Guantanamo: Habeas litigation

. Note: there is detailed information and resources, in relation with these topics during the year 2011, covered by the entry, in this law Encyclopedia, about Latif v. Obama

Resources

See Also

• Use Of Force
• Arms Control
• Disarmament
• Nonproliferation
• Detainees
• Court Decisions
• Court Proceedings

Resources

Notes and References

1. *** Editor's note: Petitioner filed a petition for a writ of certiorari on January 12, 2012. Digest 2012 will discuss further developments in the case.