WASHINGTON --- U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler has rejected a written request from the Department of Justice to lock the press and public out of a hearing about the lawfulness of force-feeding practices in Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba. Kessler wrote that the motion to “seal” the courtroom less than two weeks before the hearing
Judge Denies DOJ’s Request For Closed Hearing At Force-feeding Trial
One “of the strongest pillars of our system of justice in the United States is the presumption that all judicial proceedings are open to the public,” the judge wrote, rejecting the Justice Department’s request to close the courtroom less than two weeks before the trial.