Federal judge adopts Obama’s Gitmo standard

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He signals he will move quickly to decide on detention of terrorist suspects
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30356072/
A federal judge has signaled he will move quickly to decide whether terrorism suspects can continue to be held at Guantanamo Bay under a new Obama rule.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton has given attorneys for the detainees 12 days to file arguments for why he should grant an expedited judgment for their release under the new standard. That standard, announced last month by the Obama administration, said prisoners at the U.S. naval base in Cuba can only be detained if they substantially supported al-Qaida, the Taliban or other associated forces.

President Barack Obama has said he plans to close the detention facility within a year and determine where to place the 240 people held there. But federal judges have ordered a few releases in recent months.

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Jonathan Hafetz, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said the ruling is significant since it attempts to set a legal standard for holding the detainees. But he disagrees with the judge's interpretation.

"The decision is problematic in that it continues the misguided effort to treat terrorism as a military rather than a criminal matter and perpetuates a system of indefinite detention without charge that has no foundation in law," Hafetz said.