Al-Alwi v. Trump, 139 S. Ct. 1893

Moath Hamza Ahmed al‑Alwi, a Yemeni national, has been detained at Guantanamo Bay since shortly after 9/11 as an alleged enemy combatant.
The government relies on the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) as the statutory basis for detention of individuals who “planned, authorized, committed, or aided” the 2001 attacks.
The D.C. Circuit upheld continued detention, holding the Government may detain al‑Alwi so long as armed hostilities between U.S. forces and al‑Qaeda/the Taliban persist.
The Government represents hostilities are ongoing and does not identify an endpoint, creating a realistic prospect of life‑long detention based on status decades earlier.
Justice Breyer filed a statement respecting the denial of certiorari, expressing that the Court should address whether the AUMF and the Constitution permit such potentially indefinite detention in light of the conflict’s duration.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether continued detention under the AUMF for the duration of hostilities—potentially decades— is statutorily and constitutionally permissible	Al‑Alwi: AUMF and Constitution do not authorize effectively perpetual detention; current conflict duration and character make such detention impermissible	Government: AUMF allows detention of enemy combatants while armed hostilities with al‑Qaeda/Taliban persist; detention may continue as long as hostilities continue	Supreme Court denied certiorari; D.C. Circuit’s rule (detention while hostilities persist) remains binding. Justice Breyer would have granted certiorari to address the question of prolonged detention under AUMF/Constitution

Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507 (plurality opinion addressing AUMF detention and cautioning against "perpetual detention")
Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723 (noting need to confront outer boundaries of wartime detention if terrorism persists)
United States v. Carver, 260 U.S. 482 (denial of certiorari does not signal the Court's view on merits)