On Friday the federal court of appeals for the district of columbia ruled that the Sec'y of Defense (under Biden) had the authority to scrap the plea deal for the men subject to the military commission and held at Guantanamo (note only 7 of the men currently held at Guantanamo are subject to the military commissions the other 6 men still being held at the base have never been charged with anything!). The deal, which was being negotiated over a period of two years, was for 3 of the men to plead guilty in return for not facing the possibility of a death sentence. Biden's sec'y of defense Benson, who in theory should have had no say in the deal, tried to cancel it. The military court said Benson had no authority to stop the deal. However, the majority of the Court, in what the dissent called a "stunning" decision, agreed majority that Benson had the authority. It will be interesting to see if the en banc court will take the case.
I discussed the military court's decision here.
Read more about Friday's decision here.
Posts
