Inside America’s War Court: Clothing and Culture at Guantánamo Bay

This article was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba — Cheryl Bormann, a lawyer for one of the men accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, had made it through the two security checks necessary to enter the maximum-security courtroom when the hem on her black abaya began unraveling.

“Wardrobe problem,” she called out in the court vestibule. “Duct tape!”

Ms. Bormann, a civilian who has devoted her career to death penalty cases, had recently purchased the $50 Saudi-style robe at a shop near the Pentagon but had not had time to hem it properly. The staples she had used as a stopgap solution were coming out.

Once the robe was fixed, she pulled it shut, covered her strawberry blond hair and stepped inside the military courtroom at Guantánamo Bay where eight other women, mostly defense team lawyers and paralegals, were also hiding their hair in deference to their clients — the five men accused of plotting the worst terrorist attack in United States history.

Source: The New York Times

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War • Court • Partnership • Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting • Guantanamo Bay detention camp • Cheryl Bormann • Lawyer • September 11 attacks • Prison • Court • Vestibule (architecture) • Duct tape • Capital punishment • The Pentagon • Robot • Blond • Military • Guantanamo Bay detention camp • Military • Paralegal • Terrorism • United States •