Legal News

Under New Order, Guantanamo Lives on, For Now

By Ashby Jones

On his second day in office over two years ago, following campaign pledges, President Obama halted military trials at Guantanamo Bay.

On Monday, his administration lifted that freeze, and for the first time laid out its legal strategy to indefinitely detain prisoners who the government says can’t be tried but are too dangerous to be freed.

The move is an implicit acknowledgment that Obama has struggled to keep his campaign pledge, and has struggled to figure out a strategy to deal with the detainees there. Click here for the WSJ story; here for the NYT story; here for the WaPo story.

Obama has tried for two years to set policies on terrorism detainees distinct from those of his predecessor, George W. Bush, who established military tribunals, in part, as a way to prevent the release of classified information. Bush also ordered prisoners held indefinitely as enemy combatants until they no longer posed a threat to the U.S.

The executive order issued Monday largely keeps the status quo intact, although administration officials say the executive order adds due-process rights absent under Bush. It calls for periodic reviews of detainees who the administration has determined should be detained indefinitely.

Administration officials said the reviews would answer constitutional concerns that people held by the government have the right to contest their detention.

Under the order, the reviews of detainees to be held indefinitely will begin within the next year and will be conducted by a committee of officials from the Defense, Justice and State departments, as well as intelligence agencies. Detainees will be allowed to contest the government’s case with the help of attorneys. Full reviews would take place every three years, with additional interim reviews taking place every six months to determine whether new information exists regarding each detainee.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on March 08, 2011 (boomark / email).