Judge: Department of Defense improperly redacted documents

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The Associated Press

FILE – In this Nov. 21, 2013, file photo reviewed by the U.S. military, dawn arrives at the now closed Camp X-Ray, which was used as the first detention facility for al-Qaida and Taliban militants who were captured after the Sept. 11 attacks at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. U.S. officials say the Pentagon’s long-awaited plan to shut down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and transfer the remaining detainees to a facility in the U.S. calls for up to $475 million in construction costs, but would save as much as $180 million per year in operating costs. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

WICHITA, Kan. — A federal judge has found the U.S. Department of Defense improperly redacted several unclassified documents sought by Kansas General Derek Schmidt related to surveying potential sites for housing terror suspects now held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

U.S. District Judge Donald Crabtree in his ruling Monday also found that the Department of Defense properly withheld some information in one document.

The ruling partially granted the department’s motion for summary judgment and denied it in part.


Kansas filed the federal lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act in 2016 seeking documents related to the Obama administration’s plan to move detainees.

Crabtree says his order seems to resolve all disputed issues, but he scheduled an Aug. 9 hearing to confer with the parties and plan for any future proceedings.

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