Guantanamo and the Constitution: The Role of the U.S. Supreme Court in the Global War on Terror

Neal Katyal, a Professor at Georgetown University Law School, challenged the policy of military trials at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba. On June 29, 2006, the Supreme Court sided with him by a 5-3 vote, finding that President Bush's tribunals violated the constitutional separation of powers, domestic military law, and international law. Katyal has represented uniformed men and women in the Armed Services who challenged the Guantanamo policy. An expert in national security law, the American Constitution, the Geneva Conventions, and the role of the President and Congress post 9-11, Katyal forged a worldwide coalition of support for his challenge to the Guantanamo policy, including 422 members of the European and British Parliaments and several former Generals and Admirals of the United States Armed Forces, all of whom have publicly supported his work. An expert in matters of constitutional law, particularly the role of the President and Congress in time of war and theories of constitutional interpretation, Katyal has embraced his theoretical work as the platform for practical consequences in the federal courts.Katyal clerked for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer as well as Judge Guido Calabresi of the U.S. Court of Appeals. He attended Dartmouth College and Yale Law School. Part of the National Affairs Series and the 2006 Constitution Day Lecturer