'De Facto Sovereignty': Boumediene and Beyond

Authors

Anthony J. Colangelo, Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of LawFollow

Abstract

In Boumediene v. Bush, which grants non-citizens detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, constitutional habeas corpus privileges the Supreme Court took notice that the United States maintains "de facto sovereignty" over that territory. As its sole precedential support, the Court cited a case that never mentions the term de facto sovereignty. What is this concept? How important is it to the Court's holding? Did the Court get the concept right given its longstanding usage and meaning in Supreme Court precedent? And what can de facto sovereignty tell us about when the Court will find habeas to extend to other situations involving extraterritorial detention of non-citizens in the war on terror?

Publication Title

George Washington Law Review

Document Type

Article

Recommended Citation

Anthony J. Colangelo, De Facto Sovereignty: Boumedience and beyond, 77 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 623 (2009)