DC Circuit: RFRA Does Not Protect Guantanamo Detainees

In Aamer v. Obama, (DC Cir., Feb. 11, 2014), the D.C. Circuit denied a preliminary injunction to Guantanamo detainees who brought a habeas corpus action to challenge the government's force feeding protocol used to protect the health of detainees engaged in protest hunger strikes.  Among the detainees' claims was that their force feeding violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act because it prevents them from from engaging in communal prayers during Ramadan.  Judge Tatel's majority opinion (which also dealt at length with other issues) held that RFRA’s protections do not extend to Guantanamo detainees. He reaffirmed prior precedent in the D.C. Circuit that nonresident aliens do not qualify as protected “person[s]” within the meaning of RFRA. Judge Williams, dissenting, did not reach the RFRA issue because he urged dismissal of the entire action on jurisdictional grounds. [Thanks to Arthur Spitzer for the lead.]