Colonel Stephen F. Keane, USMC, has been named as the judge who will preside over the Guantánamo Bay trial of five men accused of plotting the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Colonel Keane has served as the head of Security and Emergency Services at Camp Pendleton, CA, and is currently circuit military judge there, reports Carol Rosenberg for the NY Times.
Proceedings have been on hold during the pandemic, largely because of the quarantine system on Guantánamo. One of Col. Keane’s first decisions will likely be whether to airlift court personnel to the island next month and subject them to two weeks of quarantine at Camp Justice in order to begin hearings in November, ending on December 23, 2020.
Colonel Keane is the third judge to preside over the Gitmo hearings. Colonel W. Shane Cohen, USAF, resigned suddenly early this year for family reasons.
