Five Detainees Ordered Released: As reported yesterday on SCOTUSblog, and today in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal , U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon ordered the release of five Algerian Guantanamo detainees while ordering the continued detention of a sixth. The 14-page ruling can be found here. Judge Leon's ruling is the first decision addressing the Justice Department's justification for holding specific detainees. One of the detainees ordered released was Lakhdar Boumediene, the same Boumediene who was named in last term's Boumediene v. Bush. Lyle Denniston also reports on SCOTUSblog that "in an unusual added comment" Judge Leon suggested that the Justice Department forgo appeal of the five prisoners and allow them to return to Bosnia where they were captured. The Justice Department has not yet announced whether it will appeal.

Mukasey on U.S. Treatment of Detainees: It was almost as if the Wall Street Journal knew Attorney General Michael Mukasey would be making headlines this morning when it decided to run his Op-ed in today's edition. According to this post by Jonathan Adler at the Volokh Conspiracy, Mukasey's Op-ed addresses issues that are similar to those he addressed in last night's speech at the Federalist Society's Annual Lawyers' Convention. The Op-ed addresses yesterday's detainee decision and urges Congress to work with the current and new administration to establish a uniform framework for detainee cases. Mukasey believes three things: "First, Congress must make clear that release from the Guantanamo Bay military base does not mean that a detainee is entitled to enter the United States;" "Second, habeas corpus proceedings must protect the integrity of classified information and prevent disclosing that information to our enemies;" and "Third, Congress should establish sensible and uniform procedures that will eliminate the risk of duplicative efforts and inconsistent rulings, and strike a reasonable balance between the detainees' right to a hearing and our national security needs."

California Court Finds Sex Offender Restrictions to Be Punishment: At Sentencing Law and Policy, Doug Berman posted yesterday on a decision from a California Court of Appeal that "found that the residency restrictions in California's sex offender registration law are 'punishment' for Apprendi purposes." The decision, from the Fourth District of California the Court of Appeal, found an Apprendi violation because the judge "subjected defendant to the residency restriction by requiring sex offender registration based on its own fact-finding" when the jury had acquitted him of any sexual offense. The judge may not have been out of line, however, as the jury did convict the defendant of misdemeanor assault of a 12 year-old girl. The decision can be found here.