Federal Judiciary

Obama: Revive, modify war tribunals

By Akin Gump Supreme Court Practice Group

President Obama, signaling a new skepticism that the regular courts can handle war crimes trials, announced plans on Friday to revive the now-stalled military commission system, made some changes in it on his own and asked Congress to pass a new law to give detainees on trial more procedural rights.  (The President’s statement can be found here, courtesy of the New York Times.)

The President said the Pentagon would move on Friday for some further delay in commission proceedings at Guantanamo Bay, “to allow us to reform the military commission process.”  Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, the President added, will notify Congress of changes being made in commission rules along these lines:

“First, statements that have been obtained from detainees using cruel, inhuman and degrading interrogation methods will no longer be admitted as evidence at trial. Second, the use of hearsay will be limited, so that the burden will no longer be on the party who objects to hearsay to disprove its reliability.  Third, the accused will have greater lattitude in selecting their counsel. Fourth, basic protections will be provided for those who refuse to testify. And fifth, military commisson judges may establish the jurisdiction of their own courts.”

Beyond those immediate changes, Obama said, the Administration would work with Congress “on additional reforms that will permit commissions to prosecute terrorists effectively and be an avenue, along with federal prosecutions in Article III courts, for administering justice.”

Full post as published by SCOTUSBLOG on May 15, 2009 (boomark / email).