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Document: Convening Authority Upholds Contempt Finding Against Brig. Gen. Baker

Shannon Togawa Mercer
Wednesday, November 22, 2017, 8:00 AM

The Office of Military Commissions Convening Authority (CA) upheld U.S. Air Force Colonel Judge Vance Spath's contempt finding against Brigadier General John Baker. However, the CA has exempted him from the imposed fine and the remainder of his confinement. In response to security concerns expressed by defense counsel in the underlying case, United States v.

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The Office of Military Commissions Convening Authority (CA) upheld U.S. Air Force Colonel Judge Vance Spath's contempt finding against Brigadier General John Baker. However, the CA has exempted him from the imposed fine and the remainder of his confinement. In response to security concerns expressed by defense counsel in the underlying case, United States v. Al-Nashiri, the CA has recommended the creation of a "clean" facility to mitigate concerns about monitoring of attorney-client meeting spaces. You can read Brig. Gen. Baker's previously filed habeas petition here. Commentary on contempt in military commissions can be found here. Additionally, here is one installment of our series covering the Al-Nashiri proceedings.

Here is the CA's official memorandum:

Here is the OMC's full press release:


Shannon Togawa Mercer is a senior associate at WilmerHale. Her practice focuses on complex global data protection, privacy, and cybersecurity matters. Ms. Togawa Mercer has extensive experience counseling clients on cross border data protection and privacy compliance as well as cyber incident response. She has practiced in London and Washington D.C. and previously served as Managing Editor and Senior Editor at Lawfare. Ms. Togawa Mercer also served as National Security and Law associate at the Hoover Institution.

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