The US Supreme Court issued an order June 1 allowing the government more time to appeal a ruling that mandates release of photos allegedly depicting detainee abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan. The order, issued by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, follows a Justice Department request and grants a 30-day delay, extending the deadline to appeal from June 9 to July 9. Congress is currently considering legislation that would exempt the disclosure of certain photographs under the Freedom of Information Act in cases where the secretary of defense certifies that such disclosure would endanger US personnel. (Jurist, June 1)

Canadian Guantánamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr June 1 asked to have his US military lawyers dismissed for arguing and disagreeing among themselves. The disputes among the members of Khadr's US defense team arose from chief defense counsel Col. Peter Masciola's efforts to dismiss Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler as lead counsel for Khadr after Kuebler filed a formal complaint against Masciola alleging a conflict of interest.

The Obama administration urged the Supreme Court May 29 to reject a petition filed by 14 Chinese Uighurs held at Guantánamo Bay seeking their release. Taking the same stance as the Bush administration, the Obama White House argued in its reply brief that although the Court has the power to order the release of detainees, it cannot order them released into the US. The Uighurs are no longer officially imprisoned, but they cannot leave Guantánamo until the government finds a country willing to accept them.

Photographs of detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib prison that President Barack Obama does not want to release include depictions of rape and sexual assault, according to former Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba May 27. In an interview with the UK's Daily Telegraph, Taguba supported Obama's decision not to release the photos, maintaining that doing so would endanger US troops.

Former vice president Dick Cheney on May 21 defended the national security policies of the Bush administration. Speaking at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Cheney criticized many of the security policies of President Barack Obama and described how the 9-11 attacks affected subsequent decisions. Maintaining that accurate intelligence is necessary to any strategy, Cheney defended the use of force to obtain timely information as being granted by Article II of the US Constitution and the Sept. 18, 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force.

The US Department of Justice announced May 21 that Guantánamo Bay detainee Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani will be prosecuted in a US federal court for his alleged role in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The announcement follows the ordered review of all Guantánamo detainees pursuant to plans to close the detention facility.

An Italian judge ruled May 20 that the trial of 26 Americans and seven Italians involving the 2003 abduction of Egyptian cleric Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr by the CIA will proceed despite excluded evidence. Judge Oscar Magi of the Fourth Chamber of the Court of Milan determined that the case will continue despite a ruling by Italy's Constitutional Court that excluded certain evidence on the grounds of national security.

Members of the US Senate on May 19 voted 90-6 to approve an amendment eliminating $80 million from pending legislation intended to fund the closure of the Guantánamo Bay detention facility. Introduced by Senate Appropriations Committee chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and co-sponsored by five Republican senators, the measure prohibits using any funding provided by the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009 to "transfer, relocate, or incarcerate Guantanamo Bay detainees to or within the United States."