## Facts

- In September 2017, John Doe surrendered on an active battlefield to the Syrian Democratic Forces in Syrian territory controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
- Doe told the Syrian Democratic Forces that he was an American citizen and asked to speak with United States officials.
- Doe was transferred to the custody of United States military forces, which made a preliminary determination that Doe was an enemy combatant.
- The United States detained Doe at a United States military facility in Iraq and determined that he was a member or substantial supporter of ISIL, a designated foreign terrorist organization.
- In October 2017, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation filed a habeas corpus petition in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Doe’s behalf, challenging his military detention.
- The habeas petition sought, among other relief, an order preventing the government from transferring Doe to another country before the court could rule on the petition.
- The district court granted relief in part by ordering the government to provide 72 hours’ notice before transferring Doe to another country.
- In 2018, the government communicated its intent to transfer Doe to foreign custody, and Doe moved for a preliminary injunction to stop the transfer.
- The district court issued a preliminary injunction barring the proposed transfer, and the government appealed. (The opinion refers to prospective receiving countries by anonymized labels due to diplomatic sensitivities.)

## Issues

1. Whether a district court hearing a pending habeas petition may require the government to provide 72 hours’ advance notice before transferring a U.S. citizen detainee from U.S. military custody to another country.
2. Whether the district court had authority to preliminarily enjoin the government from forcibly transferring the detainee to a specific foreign country while the habeas case remained unresolved, where the transfer could effectively moot the petition.

## Decision

- The D.C. Circuit affirmed the district court’s order requiring the government to provide 72 hours’ advance notice before any transfer of Doe to another country.
- The D.C. Circuit affirmed the preliminary injunction barring Doe’s involuntary transfer to the specific foreign country identified by the government.
- The court made clear it was not deciding the merits of Doe’s underlying detention or the legality of his enemy-combatant designation in this interlocutory appeal.

## Legal Principles

- A federal court may issue interim relief in a habeas case to preserve its ability to provide effective judicial review and to prevent actions that would render the habeas proceeding ineffectual.
- When a proposed transfer would be forcible and effectively irreversible, and would likely end U.S. custody in a manner that prevents meaningful habeas relief, a court may require advance notice and may enjoin the transfer while litigation is pending.
- The Executive’s foreign-affairs and wartime interests do not categorically bar judicially ordered procedures that protect a court’s capacity to decide a pending habeas petition.
- Preliminary injunctive relief may be warranted where the threatened transfer presents a serious risk of irreparable harm through mooting the case, and where maintaining the status quo supports orderly adjudication.

## Conclusion

In Doe v. Mattis, the D.C. Circuit held that, while a U.S. citizen detainee’s habeas petition challenging U.S. military custody is pending, the district court may require advance notice of any foreign transfer and may preliminarily bar a forcible transfer to a specific foreign country to ensure the court can decide the habeas case and provide meaningful relief.


Doe v. Mattis, 928 F.3d 1 (2019)