ACORN to Close Doors: New York Times writer Ian Urbina reports that Acorn will close all its remaining state affiliate and field offices by April 1st. The organization is "developing a plan to resolve all outstanding debts, obligations and other issues," said a statement released by the group. Acorn has been battered by criticism, and has lost federal money and private donations since a video sting was publicized last fall. Acorn employees were shown in the the videos advising two young conservative activists, posing as a pimp and a prostitute, how to conceal their criminal activities. The Census Bureau reacted by ending its partnership with the organization for this year's census, the Internal Revenue Service dropped the group from its Voluntary Income Tax Assistance program, and Congress voted to cut off all grants to the organization.
"Chief Lawyers Named for Guantanamo Bay Defense, Prosecution Teams": Washington Post writer Peter Finn reports that the Office of Military Commissions, the Defense Department entity that administers military tribunals, has chosen the head prosecutor and lead defense counsel for the Guantanamo Bay detainees. Navy Capt. John F. Murphy, an assistant U.S. attorney seconded from New Orleans, will oversee the prosecution, and Marine Col. Jeffrey Colwell, a career officer, will command the military defense lawyers. Both men have previously worked as military lawyers at the detention facility in Cuba, where Murphy prosecuted Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's driver, and Colwell represented Ahmed Ghailani, a Tanzanian accused of helping to organize the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa. (CJLF's brief in Ghailani's case can be found here.) Murphy declined to discuss the possiblity of Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four co-defendants returning to a military tribunal. Colwell said he will take no position on the merits of military commissions as the forum to try Guantanamo detainees.
"Graham Proposes Framework for Handling Terrorism Suspects": Washington Post writer Anne E. Kornblut reports on Senator Lindsey O. Graham's (R-S.C.) draft legislation to the White House proposing a broad framework for handling terrorism suspects. President Obama opposes some items that Graham has promoted publicly, such as the creation of a national security court to handle detainees, but the White House is urging Democrats to treat the proposal seriously as a way to break the logjam over the closure of Guantanamo Bay, and other detainee-related issues. Certain ideas under discussion appear likely to yield a compromise, administration officials said. One promising area involves creating standard procedures for addressing detainees' petitions for habeas corpus, which force the government to make its case for continued detention, rather than leaving those decisions up to individual judges. White House officials have expressed concern that if they fail to reach a comprehensive agreement, Democratic and Republican members of Congress will block funding for closing Guantanamo and civilian terrorism trials. At the same time, a senior Obama aide said the president is seeking a "coherent and durable" framework for handling terrorism suspects, a polarizing issue that has confounded his top advisors as they have struggled to relocate detainees and shut the prison.
"Chief Lawyers Named for Guantanamo Bay Defense, Prosecution Teams": Washington Post writer Peter Finn reports that the Office of Military Commissions, the Defense Department entity that administers military tribunals, has chosen the head prosecutor and lead defense counsel for the Guantanamo Bay detainees. Navy Capt. John F. Murphy, an assistant U.S. attorney seconded from New Orleans, will oversee the prosecution, and Marine Col. Jeffrey Colwell, a career officer, will command the military defense lawyers. Both men have previously worked as military lawyers at the detention facility in Cuba, where Murphy prosecuted Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's driver, and Colwell represented Ahmed Ghailani, a Tanzanian accused of helping to organize the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa. (CJLF's brief in Ghailani's case can be found here.) Murphy declined to discuss the possiblity of Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four co-defendants returning to a military tribunal. Colwell said he will take no position on the merits of military commissions as the forum to try Guantanamo detainees.
"Graham Proposes Framework for Handling Terrorism Suspects": Washington Post writer Anne E. Kornblut reports on Senator Lindsey O. Graham's (R-S.C.) draft legislation to the White House proposing a broad framework for handling terrorism suspects. President Obama opposes some items that Graham has promoted publicly, such as the creation of a national security court to handle detainees, but the White House is urging Democrats to treat the proposal seriously as a way to break the logjam over the closure of Guantanamo Bay, and other detainee-related issues. Certain ideas under discussion appear likely to yield a compromise, administration officials said. One promising area involves creating standard procedures for addressing detainees' petitions for habeas corpus, which force the government to make its case for continued detention, rather than leaving those decisions up to individual judges. White House officials have expressed concern that if they fail to reach a comprehensive agreement, Democratic and Republican members of Congress will block funding for closing Guantanamo and civilian terrorism trials. At the same time, a senior Obama aide said the president is seeking a "coherent and durable" framework for handling terrorism suspects, a polarizing issue that has confounded his top advisors as they have struggled to relocate detainees and shut the prison.
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