The court's refusal to hear the cases lends credence to the circuit court's decision to rely upon Munaf v. Green [Duke Law backgrounder; JURIST report] in affirming the government's decision over that of a federal judge. Munaf granted the government the authority to transfer detainees to the country where their crimes are alleged to have been committed as a means by which to show deference to that country's ability to enforce its laws. A federal judge ordered [JURIST report] Mohammed's release in November. Judge Gladys Kessler of the US District Court for the District of Columbia directed the government to "take all necessary and appropriate steps to facilitate [Fari Saeed's] release forthwith." The order resulted from a civil action brought against the US government for unlawfully detaining him since 2002.