IN RE: GUANTANAMO BAY DETAINEE LITIGATION

Filing 1203

Memorandum in opposition to re (144 in 1:05-cv-01124-RMC) MOTION for Hearing Petitioners' Motion for a Status Conference filed by GEORGE W. BUSH, DONALD RUMSFELD, JAY HOOD, BRICE GYURISKO. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Wolfe, Kristina)

IN RE: GUANTANAMO BAY DETAINEE LITIGATION

Doc. 1203

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ____________________________________ ) IN RE: ) GUANTANAMO BAY ) Misc. No. 08-442 (TFH) DETAINEE LITIGATION ) ___________________________________ ) ) ) ALI SHAH MOUSOVI et. al., ) Petitioners, ) ) Civil Action No. 05-1124 (RMC) v. ) ) GEORGE W. BUSH, et. al., ) ) Defendants. ) ____________________________________)

RESPONDENTS' OPPOSITION TO PETITIONERS' MOTION FOR A STATUS CONFERENCE Respondents hereby respond to Petitioners' November 26, 2008 Motion for a Status Conference to Consider Scheduling Issues, Dkt. No. 144 in 05-cv-1124. Petitioners move the Court to schedule a status conference to discuss Judge Hogan's November 6, 2008 Case Management Order (the "CMO"), Dkt. No. 1004 in 08-mc-442, and the related November 21, 2008 Order staying many of the deadlines and obligations set forth in the CMO, Dkt. No. 1026 in 08-mc-442. See Pet'r's Mot., Dkt. No. 144 at 1. Petitioners also seek entry of an Order directing the parties to comply with Judge Hogan's orders. Id. Respondents oppose Petitioners' motion because such issues, or related issues, are currently pending before Judge Hogan in connection with Respondents's Motion for Clarification and Reconsideration of the November 6, 2008 Case Management Order and Supplemental Amended Orders or, in the Alternative, Motion

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for Certification for Appeal Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) and to Stay Certain Obligations Pending Resolution of the Motion and any Appeal. See Dkt. No. 1004 in 08-mc-442. On November 6, 2008, in accordance with the July 1, 2008 Resolution of the Executive Session, Judge Hogan issued a Case Management Order providing a general procedural framework for litigation in this case, along with 112 other habeas cases involving nearly 200 enemy combatants challenging their continued detention in the wake of Boumediene v. Bush, 128 S. Ct. 2229 (2008). Respondents subsequently filed its motion for clarification and reconsideration, and in response, Judge Hogan stayed, in this and other cases, the deadlines imposed by paragraphs I.C, I.D, I.E, I.F, II.B, II.C, and III.A of the CMO ­ including deadlines for filing unclassified returns and for providing discovery and exculpatory evidence ­ pending resolution of Respondents' motion. See Order, Dkt. No. 1026 in 08-mc-442. Judge Hogan also scheduled a hearing on the matter for December 10, 2008. See Order, Dkt. No. 1158 in 08-mc442. Thus, the common scheduling and discovery issues, or related issues, Petitioners wish to discuss at their proposed status conference are currently being considered by Judge Hogan. These issues remain within the purview of Judge Hogan's coordination and management function pending adjudication of Respondents' motion. Accordingly, a separate status conference in this case to discuss such issues, at a minimum, is premature prior to resolution of Respondents' motion and the lifting of the November 21, 2008 stay. For these same reasons, this Court should not order the parties to file status reports on these scheduling and discovery issues. Petitioners' Motion for a Status Conference, therefore, should be denied.

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Dated: December 9, 2008

Respectfully submitted, GREGORY G. KATSAS Assistant Attorney General JOHN C. O'QUINN Deputy Assistant Attorney General /s/ Kristina A. Wolfe JOSEPH H. HUNT (D.C. Bar No. 431134) VINCENT M. GARVEY (D.C. Bar No. 127191) TERRY M. HENRY PAUL E. AHERN KRISTINA A. WOLFE Attorneys United States Department of Justice Civil Division, Federal Programs Branch 20 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. Washington, DC 20530 Tel: [phone] Attorneys for Respondents

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