Also known as: detains · detained · detaining · detainer · detainers · detention · unlawful detainer · writ of detainer
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A restraint on an individual's freedom of movement imposed by government authorities. The restraint occurs when law enforcement or military officials hold a person in custody pending investigation, trial, or other proceedings. Due process requires a meaningful opportunity to contest the factual basis for the restraint in many contexts.
The withholding of possession of land, chattels, or other property from the owner. The withholding triggers an entitlement to interest on damages when valuation is ascertainable from market prices.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
A restraint on an individual's freedom of movement imposed by government authorities. The restraint occurs when law enforcement or military officials hold a person in custody pending investigation, trial, or other proceedings. Due process requires a meaningful opportunity to contest the factual basis for the restraint in many contexts.
Dominic Drake, an alien held at a military facility as an enemy combatant, petitions for habeas corpus. He seeks to challenge the President's authority to hold him indefinitely and to introduce newly discovered exculpatory evidence. The court must provide a meaningful substitute proceeding that allows these challenges or release him.
The withholding of possession of land, chattels, or other property from the owner. The withholding triggers an entitlement to interest on damages when valuation is ascertainable from market prices.
David Dawson sues after Desert Oil withholds his specialized drilling equipment for six months. Market prices establish the equipment's value at the time of the taking. The court awards interest on the damages from the date of detention through judgment to avoid injustice.
Deborah Dunn, a U.S. citizen designated an enemy combatant and held in the United States, requests a hearing before a neutral decisionmaker. She seeks to contest the factual basis for her detention with the ability to present evidence. Due process requires this opportunity even with tailored military procedures.
Daniel Diaz, a retained expert in a products liability trial, is detained on unrelated charges before he can testify. Counsel moves to continue the trial so the expert can appear. The court considers whether the detention prevents adequate presentation of scientific evidence.
Doris Duffy is detained by state officers while her company conducts business activities in the forum. She challenges personal jurisdiction on the ground that the detention alone does not create minimum contacts. The court evaluates whether the contacts satisfy due process for adjudication.
Devon Drake, a U.S. citizen of Japanese ancestry, is detained under an executive order during wartime. He contests the detention as lacking individualized findings of disloyalty. The court weighs the government's security claims against constitutional protections.
A U.S. citizen detained as an enemy combatant is entitled to a meaningful opportunity before a neutral decisionmaker to contest the factual basis for detention. Aliens detained abroad receive habeas review or a meaningful substitute that permits challenges to the authority to detain, fact-finding errors, and introduction of new exculpatory evidence.
Interest runs on damages for detention of land or chattels from the valuation date to judgment when market prices permit ready ascertainment of value. The award prevents injustice unless the plaintiff elects a restitutionary measure instead.
…argument, renewed here, that the statute imposes an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce need not detain us. For 53 Stat. 1391, 26 U. S. C. § 1606 (a) provides that “No person required under a State law to make payments to an unemployment fund shall be relieved from compliance therewith on the…