Guantanamo/Detainees

Meet John Rizzo, Acting CIA General Counsel

When John Rizzo retires as acting general counsel of the CIA this summer, he will leave amid controversy over his role in approving harsh interrogations for terrorism suspects. Rizzo will be remembered as the most influential career lawyer in the department’s history, the Los Angeles Times reports in a profile.…

Jun 29, 2009 6:24 PM CDT

Free Gitmo Detainee, Judge Orders, Says US Position ‘Defies Common Sense’

Finding that a captured videotape of Abd Al Rahim Abdul Rassak shows him being tortured by al-Qaida as a suspected American spy, a federal judge has rejected as ridiculous a U.S. government position that he continues to be a legitimate detainee in a terrorism case. In a 13-page habeas corpus…

Jun 23, 2009 12:26 AM CDT

Sotomayor Hinted at Legal Concerns over Terrorism War in 2003 Lecture

Judge Sonia Sotomayor provided hints that she has concerns about some aspects of the war on terrorism—including expanded government wiretap authority—during a 2003 law school lecture. The New York Times examined the speech (PDF) and some of Sotomayor’s rulings on government actions taken in an effort to combat terrorism. The…

Jun 17, 2009 1:48 PM CDT

Judge Allows Lawsuit Claiming John Yoo’s Legal Memos Led to Torture

A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit claiming legal memos written by former Justice Department lawyer John Yoo led to the torture of a convicted terrorist. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of San Francisco allowed most of the claims against Yoo, saying even enemy combatants retain constitutional protections,…

Jun 15, 2009 12:03 PM CDT

Administration Reconsiders Plans to Release Gitmo Detainees in US

The United States may not become the new home for some Guantanamo detainees after all. The Washington Post reports that the White House has “all but abandoned plans” to allow some detainees to live here. Administration officials revealed the change in thinking as the United States released to Bermuda four…

Jun 12, 2009 11:18 AM CDT

Guantanamo Detainee Flown to US for Bombing Trial

The first Guantanamo detainee to be tried in civilian federal court arrived on U.S. soil today. Ahmed Ghailani will appear in a New York federal court later today on charges he helped build bombs detonated in U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998, the Associated Press and Reuters report.…

Jun 9, 2009 11:19 AM CDT

Some DOJ Lawyers Who Questioned Waterboarding Agreed it Was Legal

In 2005, Justice Department lawyers differed over the propriety of waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques for terrorism suspects, but all agreed that it was legal. Even lawyers who raised objections to some of the methods—including James Comey and Daniel Levin—agreed they were legal under a 1994 anti-torture law, the…

Jun 8, 2009 12:13 PM CDT

Federal Judge Tells DOJ to Make Gitmo Case Files Public

Siding with the media and lawyers representing detainees at the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., today gave the government a July 29 deadline. By that date, the U.S. Department of Justice must either to seek to protect specific information about the cases against…

Jun 2, 2009 12:25 AM CDT

Calling All Movie Buffs & Bloggers to ABA Award-Winning Trial Film Event June 2

The man who created The Response, a film dramatization of the Guantanamo Bay military tribunals that won an ABA Silver Gavel Award this year, will talk about his work and answer questions tomorrow at an ABA public program. Writer-producer and actor Sig Libowitz will be at ABA headquarters in Chicago…

Jun 1, 2009 11:29 PM CDT

1st Civilian Trial of Gitmo Prisoner Will Be Ghailani’s in N.Y.

Countering critics’ claims that it is too dangerous to transport terrorism suspects to the United States for trial in civilian courts, Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that the first such trial of a detainee at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba will be held in New York. Ahmed…

May 22, 2009 12:00 AM CDT

Souter Dissent Backs ‘Little Green Men’ Standard for Inadequate Pleadings

Justice David H. Souter isn’t known for zinger quotes in his opinions. But his dissent yesterday to a decision tossing a jailed Muslim’s complaint against two government officials contained some colorful language about space aliens—little green ones, to be exact. The U.S. Supreme Court majority opinion held that Pakistani citizen…

May 19, 2009 1:36 PM CDT

Obama Will Retain Military Commissions, But Revise the Rules

President Obama is expected to announce today that he will retain military commissions to try some Guantanamo detainees while providing additional due process rights for the accused. The rule changes would bar evidence obtained through “cruel, inhuman or degrading” interrogations, a change likely to ban evidence obtained through waterboarding, the…

May 15, 2009 11:39 AM CDT

CIA Rejects Request By Cheney to Declassify Two Interrogation Documents

Citing pending litigation under the Freedom of Information Act, the CIA has declined a request by Richard Cheney to declassify two documents that the former vice president contends would show that controversial interrogation methods used by the CIA after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks did elicit useful information. Critics…

May 14, 2009 8:19 PM CDT

Bybee a No-Show at ‘Circus’ Hearing on Interrogation Memos

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., says he doesn’t blame U.S. Appeals Judge Jay Bybee for being a no-show at a congressional hearing yesterday on Justice Department memos approving harsh interrogation techniques for suspected terrorists. Graham questioned why Bybee would want to appear in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee “circus,” the…

May 14, 2009 12:59 PM CDT

In a Reversal, White House Will Seek to Withhold Photos of Detainee Abuse

The Obama administration has reversed course and decided it will oppose releasing photos of claimed prisoner abuses at U.S. prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan. Anonymous officials told several publications that President Obama met with his legal team last week and said he feared that U.S. troops would be endangered by…

May 13, 2009 5:32 PM CDT