Release Draft Commission Rules For Public Comment, Experts Say - Washington, DC (April 7, 2010) – This week, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers joined a group including eight other organizations and prominent scholars calling for more transparency and a period for public comment regarding the release of the 2010 Manual for Military Commissions by the Department of Defense.

As a new round of military commission trials takes shape at Guantanamo Bay, an important piece of unfinished business is revision of the Manual for Military Commissions. The 2010 Manual will spell out the specifics of proceedings under the Military Commissions Act of 2009. The Department of Defense has been working on this revision for some time but has not made a draft available for public comment, even though doing so is the norm for both federal court and court-martial rule making. An opportunity for public comment may produce improvements in the final text.

The undersigned nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) authorized to observe the military commission proceedings at Guantánamo Bay write to express our objection to new restrictions that the Department of Defense put in place this week on our ability to attend press briefings. … The information and insights we obtain from these briefings help shape our understanding of what we observe during the proceedings, and provide additional information not necessarily available from the viewing area at the back of the courtroom.

We appreciate that nongovernmental organization (NGO) observers and the press had opportunities to meet while at Guantanamo Bay for the arraignment of the 9/11 accused; however, it is unfortunate that the Office of Military Commissions denied NGO observers access to the press conference on Sunday, May 6, 2012. This raises concerns about the government’s commitment to transparency.

Professional Responsibility Guidance on the JTF-GTMO-CDR Orders Governing Written Communications Management for Detainees Involved in Military Commissions of 27 December 2011 and Governing Logistics of Defense Counsel Access to Detainees Involved in Military Commissions of 27 December 2011

Concerns with Revisions to the Military Commissions Act of 2006 in the Senate-Passed Version of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2009 … The undersigned organizations want to make clear both our opposition to resuming the use of military commissions to try terrorism suspects, and our concern with numerous provisions in the amendment to the MCA that we strongly urge you to consider. … military commissions would still be incapable of delivering on the twin goals of any effective judicial system: ensuring that justice is fair, and ensuring that justice is swift.

Opposition to the Purchase of the Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Illinois — Unless Congress Also Enacts a Permanent, Statutory Ban on Using the Thomson Prison for Indefinitely Detaining Persons Without Charge or Trial, or for Holding Persons During Military Commission Trials or for Serving Sentences Imposed by Military Commissions

Beyond Guantánamo: Confronting the New Paradigm of Prevention in Domestic Terrorism Cases

One of the most important issues Congress is expected to address in the next two weeks is how to try the terrorism suspects currently being held at Guantnamo Bay. 

Guantánamo: little hope for zealous advocacy Lawrence S. Goldman

Amicus curiae brief of the Coaltion of Non-Governmental Organizations, including the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, arguing that the habeas-stripping provisions of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, Pub.L. No. 109-366, violate the Suspension Clause of the U.S. Constitution.