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US officials tour Michigan prison that could house Guantanamo detainees

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Federal and state officials toured a prison in rural Michigan Thursday in anticipation that it could eventually hold inmates currently detained at Guantanamo Bay. Officials have not yet decided whether the Standish Maximum Correctional Facility (SMF) will one day house some of the 229 Guantanamo detainees. Michigan officials are also considering using the SMF to hold out-of-state inmates with overcrowded prisons when SMF closes on October 1. Many local residents prefer the latter option, not wanting to have Guantanamo detainees nearby. The US Penitentiary in Leavensworth, Kansas appears to be the other leading candidate to house the detainees when the government closes Guantanamo Bay. Also this week, federal officials said that terrorism trials for some inmates could be held at a new high-security courthouse in Newport News, VA if the Obama administration sends cases to federal courts. The Obama administration faces sharp opposition from members of Congress over plans to transfer Guantanamo detainees to US soil. In late July, US Defense Department General Counsel Jeh Charles Johnson and Assistant Attorney General for National Security David Kris, both members of task force appointed by Obama to oversee the closing of Guantanamo, testified in front of the House Armed Services Committee that the Obama administration is considering transferring more Guantanamo Bay detainees to the US as they urged Congress to pass proposed reforms to the Military Commissions Act of 2006 and detainee policy. In May, the US House of Representatives passed a spending bill that denied the Obama administration's request for $60 million to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center and placed limits on the government's ability to transfer detainees to the US and release detainees to foreign countries. Also in May, the Senate passed an amendment to a piece of legislation that eliminates $80 million intended to be used for the closure of Guantanamo until the president provides a "comprehensive, responsible plan" detailing how it will be done.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on August 14, 2009 (boomark / email).