James Pohl

Colonel James L. Pohl is an American lawyer and an officer in the United States Army.

He is notable for having been appointed as a judge on a Guantanamo military commission. He is presiding over the Commission of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, Walid bin Attash, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Ammar al-Baluchi, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi. From November 2011 to July 2014, Pohl also presided over the military commission of Abd el-Rahim al-Nashiri.

He is notable for serving as the judge of several of the GIs in the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse cases, and barring the demolition of Abu Ghraib because he had ruled it a crime scene.

In December 2008 Pohl was appointed to replace Ralph Kohlmann as the Chief Presiding Officer for the Military Commissions.

Pohl received his J.D. from Pepperdine University in 1978.

On January 29, 2009, Pohl denied the request of the Obama Administration to delay proceeding for 120 days in the case of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. Pohl argued that tribunal rules give the judges sole authority to delay cases and that postponing proceedings against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri was not reasonable and "does not serve the interest of justice". According to Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald, Pohl's ruling stated:

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