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Supreme Court declines to revive plea deal for 9/11 suspect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 14 outlets across the spectrum.

17 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

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The US Supreme Court declined on Monday to review an appeal by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two alleged co-conspirators seeking to revive their plea agreements in the 9/11 case. The agreements, reached with military prosecutors in July 2024, would have removed the death penalty in exchange for guilty pleas. Former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin canceled them, and a lower appeals court had upheld his authority to do so. The defendants, held at Guantanamo Bay, now face a possible death penalty trial before a military court. The Hill and The Daily Signal say the court gave no explanation for its order.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. The Supreme Court declined on Monday to revive plea deals for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants accused in the 9/11 attacks.

    Reported byLeft7Center1Right1Far Right3See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    NBC News, Bloomberg, CBS News, ABC News, The Independent, The Guardian, The New York Times
    Center
    The Hill
    Right
    The Washington Times
    Far Right
    Just the News, The Epoch Times, The Daily Signal

  2. The Pentagon canceled the 2024 plea agreements, which had removed the death penalty.

    Reported byLeft3Right1Far Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    Bloomberg, CBS News, The Guardian
    Right
    The Washington Times
    Far Right
    Just the News, The Daily Signal

  3. A lower appeals court had earlier ruled that Austin had the authority to cancel the agreements.

    One outletJust the News· Far Right

  4. The Supreme Court gave no explanation for its order.

    Reported byCenter1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Center
    The Hill
    Far Right
    The Daily Signal

  5. Justice Brett Kavanaugh recused himself from the case.

    One outletThe Daily Signal· Far Right

  6. The defendants now face a military court trial in which the death penalty is possible.

    Reported byLeft1Far Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The New York Times
    Far Right
    Just the News, The Daily Signal

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three sides report that the Supreme Court declined to revive the plea deal for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants. Right-side coverage in Just the News and The Daily Signal stresses the Pentagon's cancellation and the possible death penalty, while left-side coverage focuses on the court's refusal.

  • the left

    7 outlets

    Left headlines report the Court's rejection of the bid to revive the deal, often using ‘alleged’ before Mohammed's name; the AP report carried by ABC and the Guardian uses a plain rejection headline.

    Supreme Court Will Not Revive Plea Deal for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and 9/11 Defendants
    The New York TimesLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    1 outlet

    The Hill's one headline reports the Court turning away an appeal from 9/11 defendants seeking to reinstate their plea deals, calling them defendants rather than mastermind.

    Supreme Court turns away appeal from 9/11 defendants seeking to reinstate plea deals
    The HillCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    6 outlets

    Right headlines split: Just the News and The Daily Signal stress the Pentagon tossing the deal or Mohammed dodging death, while The Epoch Times and Washington Times report a plain rejection.

    Supreme Court upholds Pentagon decision to Loaded verb“toss”The verb suggests the deal was casually discarded, while the coverage describes a formal cancellation by the Pentagon.More neutral: cancelDisagree with this highlight? plea deal for alleged 9/11 conspirators
    Just the NewsFar RightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left1

    Scuttled

  • Center2

    infamous Guantánamo Bay prisoninfamous

  • Right3

    tossDodgenotorious

In the outlets’ own words

  • Loaded verb

    tossMore neutral: cancel

    The verb suggests the deal was casually discarded, while the coverage describes a formal cancellation by the Pentagon.

    Supreme Court upholds Pentagon decision to toss plea deal for alleged 9/11 conspirators

    Used byJust the News (Far Right)

  • Loaded verb

    ScuttledMore neutral: withdrawn

    Scuttled implies the deals were sabotaged, a judgement that the reports of the withdrawal do not establish.

    11 Defendants on Scuttled Plea Deals

    Used byBloomberg (Left)

  • Loaded modifier

    infamous Guantánamo Bay prisonMore neutral: Guantánamo Bay prison

    Infamous passes a judgement on the prison before the facts are given.

    11, 2001, attacks who are currently awaiting trial at the infamous Guantánamo Bay prison.

    Used byThe Hill (Center)

  • Loaded modifier

    infamousMore neutral: known for (describe)

    Judgement of reputation as fact.

    11, 2001, attacks who are currently awaiting trial at the infamous Guantánamo Bay prison.

    Used byThe Hill (Center)

Show 2 more phrasesShow fewer

  • Loaded verb

    DodgeMore neutral: avoid

    The verb implies the defendant is evading justice, while the story reports only that he sought to avoid the death penalty.

    Supreme Court Rejects Accused 9/11 Mastermind’s Bid to Dodge Death Penalty

    Used byThe Daily Signal (Far Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    notoriousMore neutral: known for (describe)

    Judgement of reputation as fact.

    The Supreme Court rejected notorious 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's bid to restore a controversial plea deal in…

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

7 outlets

Leads with

  • the court's refusal to revisit the deal
  • the path to a possible death penalty trial
  • two decades of legal gridlock

Leaves out

  • the June 2028 trial date

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the 7 headlines from the leftHide the headlines
  • The New York TimesLeft

    Supreme Court Will Not Revive Plea Deal for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and 9/11 Defendants

    The justices rejected a request from Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and two others accused of plotting the Sept. 11 attacks, clearing the way for a potential death penalty trial.

    Read at The New York Times (opens in a new tab)
  • The GuardianLeftAssociated Press report

    Supreme court rejects effort to revive plea deal for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in 9/11 attacks

    Agreement would have spared Mohammed risk of execution in exchange for guilty plea and life in prison The supreme court on Monday rejected an effort to revive a plea deal for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the attacks on 11 September 2001. …

    Read at The Guardian (opens in a new tab)
  • The IndependentLeft

    Supreme Court rejects bid to revive plea deal for accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

    The Supreme Court's action marks the latest milestone in a military prosecution of the detainees held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that has been beset by two ⁠decades of legal gridlock

    Read at The Independent (opens in a new tab)
  • CBS NewsLeft

    Supreme Court turns away appeal from alleged 9/11 mastermind

    The Supreme Court rebuffed an effort by alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to revive a plea deal reached with military prosecutors and revoked by the Biden administration.

    Read at CBS News (opens in a new tab)
  • BloombergLeft

    Supreme Court Rejects Sept. 11 Defendants on Loaded verb“Scuttled”Scuttled implies the deals were sabotaged, a judgement that the reports of the withdrawal do not establish.More neutral: withdrawnDisagree with this highlight? Plea Deals

    The US Supreme Court refused to reinstate plea agreements that would have shielded three alleged Sept. 11 perpetrators, including accused mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, from the death penalty.

    Read at Bloomberg (opens in a new tab)
  • NBC NewsLeft

    Supreme Court rejects alleged 9/11 mastermind’s attempt to revive plea deal

    The Supreme Court rejected an appeal brought by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other alleged 9/11 plotters seeking to hold the government to a plea deal.

    Read at NBC News (opens in a new tab)
  • ABC NewsLeftAssociated Press report

    Supreme Court rejects effort to revive Khalid Sheikh Mohammed plea deal

    ABC News published a report that is shown in full at The Washington Times.

    Read at ABC News (opens in a new tab)

From the center

1 outlet

Leads with

  • the court turning away the appeal without explanation
  • the defendants awaiting trial at Guantanamo Bay
  • the Sept. 11 attacks as background

Leaves out

  • the death penalty the plea deal had removed

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the headline from the centerHide the headlines
  • The HillCenter

    Supreme Court turns away appeal from 9/11 defendants seeking to reinstate plea deals

    The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear appeals from three men accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks who are currently awaiting trial at the Loaded modifier“infamous Guantánamo Bay prison”Infamous passes a judgement on the prison before the facts are given.More neutral: Guantánamo Bay prisonDisagree with this highlight?. …

    Read at The Hill (opens in a new tab)

From the right

6 outlets

Leads with

  • the Pentagon's cancellation of the deal
  • the possibility of the death penalty
  • Justice Kavanaugh's recusal
See the 7 headlines from the rightHide the headlines

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    First to report

    NBC News, Oct 19, 9:33 AM EDT

  • Center

    13 min later

    Its first report, Oct 19, 9:46 AM EDT

  • Right

    34 min later

    Its first report, Oct 19, 10:07 AM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. NBC NewsLeftOct 19, 9:33 AM EDT
  2. BloombergLeftOct 19, 9:36 AM EDT
  3. The HillCenterOct 19, 9:46 AM EDT
  4. CBS NewsLeftOct 19, 10:01 AM EDT
  5. The Washington TimesRightOct 19, 10:07 AM EDT
  6. The IndependentLeftOct 19, 11:08 AM EDT
  7. ABC NewsLeftOct 19, 11:38 AM EDT
  8. The GuardianLeftOct 19, 11:50 AM EDT
  9. The Epoch TimesFar RightOct 19, 12:10 PM EDT
  10. The Daily SignalFar RightOct 19, 1:40 PM EDT
  11. The New York TimesLeftOct 19, 2:02 PM EDT
  12. New York PostRightOct 19, 3:04 PM EDT
  13. RedStateFar RightOct 19, 5:40 PM EDT

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out. Just the News gave only a date, so it is not placed.

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