Also known as: detentio · detentions · detaining · detained
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A restraint on liberty by which authorities hold a person in custody. The restraint occurs when officers or military personnel prevent free movement for purposes such as investigation, security, or adjudication.
Dominic Drake, an alien held at a military facility as an enemy combatant, petitions for habeas relief after a military commission denies him any chance to present newly discovered exculpatory evidence. The court holds that the substitute review process must permit Drake to contest the factual basis for his indefinite detention and to seek release.
Diana Delgado sues for the value of equipment wrongfully held by a creditor for eighteen months. Because market prices establish the equipment's value, the court awards interest on the amount due from the date of the taking through judgment.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Dolores Diaz, a U.S. citizen seized at a domestic airport and detained at a military base, receives only classified briefings to legislators. The court rules that due process requires a neutral decisionmaker to afford her a meaningful opportunity to contest the factual basis for her detention.
Devon Drake's suitcase is removed from a flight and held for ninety minutes while agents await a narcotics dog. The court finds the detention unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment because the scope and duration exceed what reasonable suspicion alone permits.
Damian Decker is arrested and held at a station house for several hours of questioning about an unrelated offense. Because the lengthy involuntary detention renders the setting custodial, officers must administer Miranda warnings before interrogation.
Dorothy Daniels sues the former President for civil damages arising from official acts. The Court holds that the unique separation-of-powers concerns surrounding the presidency preclude arrest, imprisonment, or detention of the President while discharging official duties.
Police may briefly detain luggage on reasonable suspicion of contraband, but the detention must remain limited in scope and duration. A ninety-minute airport detention based solely on reasonable suspicion exceeds constitutional bounds.
Supporting sources
A citizen held in the United States as an enemy combatant receives due process protection that includes a meaningful opportunity to contest the factual basis for detention before a neutral decisionmaker. Military exigencies permit some procedural tailoring but not complete denial of any opportunity to refute the government's allegations.
Supporting sources
Congress may not categorically bar habeas corpus for aliens detained as enemy combatants unless it supplies a meaningful substitute. Any substitute must allow the detainee to challenge the President's authority to detain indefinitely, contest adverse fact-finding, introduce later-discovered exculpatory evidence, and seek release.
Supporting sources
When valuation rests on established market prices, a plaintiff recovers interest on the amount due for detention of chattels from the valuation date to judgment, unless the plaintiff elects a restitutionary measure of recovery.
Supporting sources
…U. S. 534, 541 (1961); Malinski v. New York , 324 U. S. 401, 402 (1945).[^maj-52] It is also urged that an unfettered right to detention for interrogation should be allowed because it will often redound to the benefit of the person questioned. When police inquiry determines that there is no reason to believe that the person…