Legal Commentary

First Guantanamo Trial to Begin Monday

By Jeralyn

Bump and Update: The ACLU weighs in:

"Hamdan's trial, like those of other Guantánamo detainees accused of war crimes, should take place in an ordinary federal court or in a traditional military court. The Guantánamo military commissions allow the government to rely on evidence that the defendant never sees, on hearsay, and on evidence obtained through torture. The commissions are completely inconsistent with the Constitution and should be shut down."

A U.S. District Court judge today denied a continuance request for Salim Hamdan, former driver to Osama bin Laden.

His trial, the first military tribunal trial of a Guantanamo detainee, will begin as scheduled Monday. The judge in that proceeding also has rejected continuance requests.[More...]

U.S. District Judge James Robertson rejected an effort by Osama bin Laden's former driver, Salim Hamdan, to postpone his trial. Hamdan argued he would suffer irreparable harm if his was tried before he could challenge the legality of the process.

Robertson's ruling Thursday is a victory for the Bush administration, which suffered a setback last month when the Supreme Court ruled that detainees can challenge their detention in federal court. Hamdan's attorneys hoped to use that ruling to delay his trial.

Via How Appealing, here are the military judge's July 14 ruling (pdf)denying a motion to dismiss on ex post facto grounds and July 15 ruling (pdf)denying a motion to dismiss on equal protection grounds.

The military judge holds that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Boumediene v. Bush does not mandate application of the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause to Guantanamo proceedings.

Human Rights First has background on Hamdan's case and is on site at Guantanmo blogging the proceedings.

This Defense Department webpage contains the pleadings and exhibits.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on July 17, 2008 (boomark / email).