Sat what? A military judge at Gitmo rejected President Obama's request. Who's running the show here?

[NNN0LHI]

http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/World/Story/A1Story20090130-118111.html

Refusal to suspend Gitmo trial


Fri, Jan 30, 2009
AFP

WASHINGTON - A MILITARY judge at Guantanamo Bay on Thursday rejected President Barack Obama's request to suspend the trial of a Saudi man accused in the 2000 attack on the USS Cole, the Pentagon said.

'Judge James Pohl denied the motion' put forward by the prosecution at Mr Obama's request to suspend the trial for 120 days, said Defence Department spokesman Jeffrey Gordon.

The Washington Post added the judge found the government's argument in the case of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri 'unpersuasive'.

'Congress passed the military commissions act, which remains in effect. The commission is bound by the law as it currently exists, not as it may change in the future,' the judge wrote according to the Post.

[DS1]

1. Barack

He'll get this shit sorted out right fast. When the GOP show their ass like they have so far, he wins. He is not one to be fucked with.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

18. Damn you really don't get it do you...

Obama can not order a military judge any more than he can order a civilian one. He did order the prosecutor to ask for a delay, which the judge, acting within his authority, denied.


On Edit: See the sub thread starting with post #5

[DS1]

19. And THAT is why the place should be shut down

Barack wins, again.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

21. You are still clueless...the President can not order any judge WRT their decisions

military or civilian

[LakeSamish706]

2. Well lets see if President Obama (Commander In Chief) will stand for this....

It sounds like this Judge should be blown out the door ASAP. Seems like a Bush cronie to me.

[NNN0LHI]

3. He needs to be in the brig and brought up on charges forthwith

[Xithras]

5. Once again....Judges exist outside of the normal chain of command.

They aren't like normal soldiers, and their judicial decisions can only be overriden by the Judicial, and not the Executive branch.

Besides, Obama NEVER ordered him to do anything (because Obama, unlike many DU posters, understands the limits of his authority). Obama ORDERED the PROSECUTOR to REQUEST that the trial be delayed. The prosecutor followed the order. The judge was under no pressure, and certainly no orders, to grant that request.

If Obama wanted to issue a direct order to the judge, he'd have to request that Congress revise the UCMJ first.

[lonestarnot]

6. Can you point that out, a citation or something. I would like to read it.

"Subject to regulations of the Secretary concerned" Article 26

(b) A military judge shall be a commissioned officer of the armed forces who is a member of the bar of a Federal court or a member of the bar of the highest court of a State and who is certified to be qualified for duty as a military judge by the Judge Advocate General of the armed force of which such military judge is a member.

sounds like Obama has authority to me.

The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) is a federal law, enacted by Congress. Its provisions are contained in United States Code, Title 10, Chapter 47. Article 36 of the UCMJ allows the President to prescribe rules and procedures to implement the provisions of the UCMJ. The President does this via the Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM) which is an executive order that contains detailed instructions for implementing military law for the United States Armed Forces.

[merh]

8. I don't know about UCMJ

but I do know that Obama did not direct an order to the judges or anyone else, his administration asked the government attorneys to file a motion seeking that the matters be postponed. The motions were filed and this judge denied the motion, as was his prerogative as a judge. A motion is a request - the party moves for the court to do something or order something. The judge then reviews the motion and the law and makes a decision - that is what this judge did.

[lonestarnot]

11. Yes thank you for the motion details. :)

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. thanks for trying to point the obvious

another MOS outside the normal chain is medical... all kinds of fun when an enlisted medic orders a CO to stand down and go to bed.

[lonestarnot]

9. but what about this?

The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) is a federal law, enacted by Congress. Its provisions are contained in United States Code, Title 10, Chapter 47. Article 36 of the UCMJ allows the President to prescribe rules and procedures to implement the provisions of the UCMJ. The President does this via the Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM) which is an executive order that contains detailed instructions for implementing military law for the United States Armed Forces.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. The military commissions act is OUTSIDE the MCM

why some of us fought it tooth and nail

Want to bet this will end up at your neighborhood USSC?

Why do you think Chenney said it would not be easy to close GITMO?

[lonestarnot]

13. What is the MCM, Marine Corp. Marathon?

:shrug:

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. The internal Military Court Martial System... covering all service members

and coasties

The Military Commission the Congress passed is outside that system, or the civilian legal system... why I am betting this will end up at the United States Supreme Court

[lonestarnot]

16. I thought that was the UCMJ.

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. That is the legal code, the united code of military justice

the one that the court martial system functions under

Under the Geneva Convention if these guys were POWS we would have to try them under the Court Martial system, but that has rights... and protections against self incrimination

The Military Commissions dispense with those niceties.

[treestar]

4. Maybe it is like those executive branch "courts" where the government

is one side and the person involved is the other side. Like the tax court which would be the government vs. the taxpayer. The government could ask for more time and be refused because the accused (or whatever they are at Gitmo) doesn't want to agree to the holdup and the judge decides in favor of the prisoner.

This is the media - they don't explain enough, the reporter doesn't know what is really going on, and no one really understands everything but have a knee jerk reaction.

[spanone]

10. insubordination..?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

20. Nope

[unkachuck]

15. dear Mr. President....

....just a friendly reminder, you can't take credit for closing gitmo, until you actually close gitmo....

"But no decision has yet been made on what to do with the detainees still held at Guantanamo, most of them without charge, and many of whom cannot be returned to their home countries for various reasons."