Military Law

Obama Signs Orders Closing Guantanamo, Halting Harsh Interrogations

President Barack Obama signed executive orders today closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay within a year and ending harsh interrogations of terrorism suspects. The orders also close any remaining secret prisons run by the CIA, the New York Times reports. The orders require the CIA to use the same rules…

Jan 22, 2009 4:55 PM CST

Obama Will Drop ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ Aide Says

Barack Obama will end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that bars openly gay men and women from serving in the military, according to a spokesman for the president-elect. In a YouTube video, spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama is committed to ending the policy, report CNN and the San Francisco…

Jan 14, 2009 7:57 PM CST

Ex-Military Prosecutor Tells of Chaotic Evidence System at Gitmo

A military prosecutor who resigned due to ethical qualms says in a court document that the evidence system at Guantanamo is so disorganized that it was impossible to be fair in the prosecution of detainees. Darrel Vandeveld resigned last year after citing slipshod procedures for turning over exculpatory evidence to…

Jan 14, 2009 1:42 PM CST

Pentagon Official Says Alleged 20th Hijacker Was Tortured by US

The Pentagon official charged with deciding whether to try Guantanamo detainees says she refused to allow the prosecution of the alleged 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11 attacks because he was tortured by the U.S. military. Susan Crawford, who is convening authority of the military commissions created to try the…

Jan 14, 2009 1:08 PM CST

Senate Report Blames White House for Detainee ‘Abuse’

Contradicting Bush administration claims that harsh prisoner interrogation techniques were sought by front-line military officers in the war against terrorism, a bipartisan U.S. Senate committee report released yesterday in redacted form says White House officials, including former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, are to blame for the policy underlying mistreatment…

Dec 12, 2008 9:52 PM CST

Five Sept. 11 Detainees Ask to Confess and Enter Guilty Plea

Five Guantanamo detainees charged with plotting the Sept. 11 attacks are seeking to confess and plead guilty. Accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed explained to a military judge today why he and his co-defendants were ready to enter guilty pleas, the New York Times reports. “We don’t want to…

Dec 8, 2008 4:52 PM CST

Law Prof to Head White House Military Office

This week President-elect Barack Obama announced that University of New Mexico Law Professor Louis E. Caldera will head the White House Military Office. In the role, Caldera, a former Clinton secretary of the Army, will oversee all White House military operations, including Air Force One, Camp David and presidential trips…

Dec 3, 2008 7:59 PM CST

5 Gitmo Detainees Held Unlawfully, Federal Judge Says

Ruling from the bench, a federal judge has found that five Algerian men were held unlawfully for nearly seven years at the U.S. military facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and ordered that they be released “forthwith.” U.S. District Judge Richard Leon also urged the government not to appeal his decision,…

Nov 20, 2008 7:30 PM CST

Supreme Court Rules for Navy in Suit Claiming Sonar Harmed Whales

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against environmental groups seeking to limit the Navy’s use of sonar in training exercises to protect whales near the California coast. The 5-4 decision said the Navy needs to conduct realistic training, and federal courts had abused their discretion by ordering limits on sonar…

Nov 12, 2008 3:25 PM CST

Obama to Bring Gitmo Detainees to US Courts, Associated Press Says

In a potential move that could change the landscape of the nation’s criminal justice system, president-elect Barack Obama reportedly has asked his advisers to put together a plan to close the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and bring detainees who are not released here for trial. While…

Nov 10, 2008 7:28 PM CST

Ex-Navy Commander Accused of Faking 9/11 Injury at Pentagon

A retired U.S. Navy commander has been criminally charged with allegedly faking a serious injury from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the Pentagon. Charles Coughlin, 49, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Friday, along with his wife, for allegedly overstating the extent of his injuries on…

Nov 4, 2008 9:46 PM CST

Second Guantanamo Detainee is Convicted in Military Trial

A military jury at Guantanamo has convicted the propaganda chief for al-Qaida and sentenced him to life in prison. The sentence was markedly longer than the 5½ years given to the first Guantanamo detainee who was convicted, a driver for Osama bin Laden. Prosecutors had contended that the man convicted…

Nov 4, 2008 1:06 PM CST

Citing Torture, Judge Tosses Gitmo Detainee’s Confession

A military judge has found that Afghan police tortured a youth later transferred to Guantanamo Bay, and the confession he gave as a result cannot be used at his trial. The judge, Army Col. Stephen Henley, found that Afghan police threatened to kill Mohammed Jawad and his family unless he…

Oct 29, 2008 3:40 PM CDT

Military Judge Rules Defense Lawyers Can Inspect Gitmo’s Secret Camp 7

Lawyers representing Sept. 11 suspect Ramzi Binalshibh have won permission to inspect a secret detention center at Guantanamo Bay where he is being held. Judge Ralph Kohlmann, a Marine colonel, said the lawyers could visit the mysterious Camp 7 to inspect the conditions of their client’s confinement, the Washington Post…

Oct 28, 2008 2:39 PM CDT

Judge Adopts Definition of Enemy Combatant that Matches the Pentagon’s

A federal judge’s definition of the term “enemy combatant” matches that used by the Pentagon in 2004 and more than 550 tribunals that reviewed the status of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon of Washington, D.C., will use the definition as he decides an estimated two dozen…

Oct 28, 2008 2:22 PM CDT