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Pentagon appoints new chief judge for US military commissions

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The Pentagon announced Monday that US Army Col. James Pohl, who presided over several court-martial proceedings resulting from the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, will be the new chief judge for the US military commissions. Pohl replaces Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann, who announced his immediate retirement last month. Pohl noted Monday that the military commissions process could change with the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama next month. Pohl, who has served as a military judge since 2000, is best-known for declaring the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq a crime scene and forbidding its demolition in 2004. Pohl also refused to allow lawyers for the court-martialed soldiers to question then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld about the chain of command leading down to the soldiers charged with abusing inmates.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on December 16, 2008 (boomark / email).