Opinion
Civil Action No. 05-665 (RWR).
July 8, 2005
MEMORANDUM ORDER
Petitioner Hazi Ahmed, through his next friend, seeks a writ of habeas corpus, challenging the legality of his detention by the United States at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. The petition [Dkt. # 1] seeks, among other things, that petitioner not be removed or transferred from Guantanamo Bay without 30 days' prior notice to his counsel. Petitioners' motion for a show cause order [Dkt. # 5] seeks, among other things, an order directing respondents to file a factual return justifying the detention of Ahmed. Respondents moved for a stay of proceedings [Dkt. # 4] pending resolution of the appeals in In re Guantanamo Detainee Cases, 355 F. Supp. 2d 443 (D.D.C. 2005), appeal docketed, No. 05-8003 (D.C. Cir. March 10, 2005), and Kalid v. Bush et al., 355 F. Supp. 2d 311 (D.D.C. 2005), appeal docketed sub nom. Boumediene v. Bush et al., No. 05-5062 (D.C. Cir. March 10, 2005).
A primary purpose of a stay pending resolution of the issues on appeal is to preserve the status quo among the parties.Washington Area Metro. Transit Comm'n v. Holiday Tours, Inc., 559 F.2d 841, 844 (D.C. Cir. 1977) (a stay pending appeal is preventative or protective, and seeks to maintain the status quo pending a final determination of issues on appeal); see Warm Springs Dam Task Force v. Gribble, 417 U.S. 1301, 1310 (1974) (granting stay pending appeal to maintain the status quo between the parties). A court may, in appropriate situations, specify protective conditions in balancing the hardship necessarily imposed on the party whose suit or execution of judgment has been stayed pending appeal. Cooks v. Fowler, 459 F.2d 1269, 1272-73 n. 27 (D.C. Cir. 1971) (affirming condition of stay requiring tenant appealing judgment to deposit funds in court registry pending appeal); see also, City of Portland, Or. v. Federal Maritime Comm'n, 433 F.2d 502, 504 (D.C. Cir. 1970) (directing the proponent of a stay in a case challenging shippers' exclusion of one city's port from service to "be prepared to state reasons why this court should not impose a conditional stay requiring the rotation of service among the ports involved pending final review and determination"); Scott v. Scott, 382 F.2d 461, 462 (D.C. Cir. 1967) (discussing a stay of execution of judgment conditioned upon support payments); Center for Int'l Environmental Law v. Office of the U.S. Trade Rep., 240 F. Supp. 2d 21, 23 (D.D.C. 2003) (conditioning stay pending appeal on party seeking an expedited appeal). Where, as here, the condition imposed on the proponent of the stay is "neither heavy nor unexpected," imposing a protective condition is well within a court's discretion.Cooks v. Fowler, 459 F.2d at 249 (quoting Bell v. Tsintolas Realty Co., 430 F.2d at 482 (D.C. Cir. 1970) (stating "[w]e have little doubt that . . . [a court] may fashion an equitable remedy to avoid placing one party at a severe disadvantage during the period of litigation")).
Therefore, here
the court will "guard against depriving the processes of justice of their suppleness of adaptation to varying conditions." Landis v. North American Co., 299 U.S. 248, 256 (1936). Coextensive with a district court's inherent power to stay proceedings is the power to craft a stay that balances the hardships to the parties. Id. at 255 (noting concern regarding a stay causing "even a fair possibility . . . [of] damage to some one else"); see also Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681, 707 (1997) (noting that "burdens [to the parties] are appropriate matters for the District Court to evaluate in its management of the case").Al-Oshan v. Bush, Civil Action No. 05-520 (D.D.C. Mar. 31, 2005) (Urbina, J.) (Order, Dkt. # 12). Accordingly, it is hereby
ORDERED that respondents' motion for a stay [Dkt. # 4] be, and hereby is, GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. The proceedings in this case are STAYED pending resolution of the appeals pending before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in In re Guantanamo Detainee Cases and Boumediene v. Bush et al., except that petitioners may seek emergency relief from this court in appropriate circumstances, such as when petitioners have reason to believe that they are facing the possibility of continued detention at the request of the United States in a location that does not provide access to this court. It is further
ORDERED that respondents, their agents, servants, employees, confederates, and any persons acting in concert or participation with them, or having actual or implicit knowledge of this Order by personal service or otherwise, shall provide this court and counsel for petitioners thirty days' advance written notice of any transfer or removal of the detained petitioner from United States custody at Guantanamo Bay. It is further
ORDERED that, given the ongoing conduct of combatant status review tribunals, respondents shall file within 30 days of the entry of this Order a factual return relating to the detained petitioner.