This article is missing some context about why the judge's application to be an immigration judge (and not telling anyoke) was a bad thing. Taken from a linked previous article:

Because the prosecution in the case includes people from the U.S. Department of Justice—the same federal agency that oversees immigration courts—defense attorneys are asking to throw out all of Spath’s rulings as tainted.

“Any disinterested party would question the impartiality of a judge who is seeking employment from one of the parties appearing before him. It’s an obvious conflict of interest,” Navy Capt. Brian Mizer, the current lead defense attorney for al-Nashiri, told the Herald.

Another missing piece of information (that confused me), is that immigration judges are direct employees of the DoJ and thus part of the executive branch. They preside over administrative proceedings conducted by the DoJ, rather than judicial cases in an independent court, with the DoJ as plaintiff / prosecutor, as is more conventional.

> The chief defense counsel for the military commission raised concerns that lawyers’ attorney-client meetings were being monitored, leading al-Nashiri’s defense lawyers to seek more information. While their discovery motion was pending, a microphone was discovered in a meeting room, said by the government to be a nonfunctioning “legacy microphone.”

Oh don't worry we're not listening to you we used to do that but aren't now... so could this affect previous trials, the potential that privileged conversations may have been spied on by this 'legacy microphone?'

In other news... Immigration court mass-hiring crooked judges.

In immigration courts the judge and the prosecutor both work for the same branch of government. There is no illusion of independence.

The purpose of the "court" is simply to provide pro-forma due process during an administrative procedure.

I wonder if Immigration Judges pay the best or have the easiest job. In my experience long time government employees know the best paying jobs, best paying agencies (or even state level work), and what will get them the best retirement. They also know the jobs with the lowest amount of work.

I think Immigrantion Judges are like sanitation engineers - they technically have the same title but there is a massive difference in skills and expectations - no offense to sanitation engineers but they don't exactly do design work.

Judges have standards of impartiality and immunities. Immigration judges are essentially more bueracrats than true judges - and it shows given documented farcical proceedings like 3 year olds unaccompanied by representatives.