US District Judge Joyce Hens Green has ordered the Defense Department to justify its continued detention of Guantanamo Bay detainees for nearly three years without charges. Judge Green set an October 18 deadline for the Defense Department to provide the charge or factual basis for detaining each of the 60 detainees who have sued the government and set a separate October 4 deadline for the government to file written arguments on why the detainees should not be released. Tuesday's Washington Post has more.

Last week the US District Court for the District of Columbia decided that Judge Green would coordinate and manage all proceedings in the Guantanamo Bay cases, with the expectation that up to 400 cases could be filed with the court. Read the Court's resolution [PDF].