-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: January 13, 2007 12:19:25 PM PST
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: DoD Official Accuses Top Law Firms of "Impropriety," for
Representing Detainees
PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST
Serious law. Primary sources. Global perspective.
JURIST Legal News & Research
University of Pitttsburgh School of Law
Friday, January 12, 2007
DOD official slams US law firms for defending Guantanamo detainees
Kate Heneroty at 6:35 PM ET
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/01/dod-official-slams-us-
law-firms-for.php
[JURIST] US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee
Affairs Charles "Cully" Stimson has set off a firestorm of protest
by publicly questioning the propriety of some of the country's top
law firms representing Guantanamo Bay detainees. In an interview on
Federal News Radio Thursday on the fifth anniversary of the US
military prison, Stimson predicted that "when corporate CEOs see
that those firms are representing the very terrorists who hit their
bottom line in 2001, those CEO's are going to make those law firms
choose between representing terrorists or representing reputable
firms." The former Navy lawyer said "It's shocking...The major law
firms in this country...are out there representing detainees."
Stimson cited a string of major US law firms defending clients at
Guantanamo pro bono: Pillsbury Winthrop, Jenner & Block, Hunton &
Williams, Alston & Bird, Cutler Pickering, Weil Gotshal, Paul Weiss
Rifkin, Covington & Burling, Mayer Brown, Pepper Hamilton, Perkins
Cole, Fulbright Jaworski, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, and Venable
[firm websites].
Stimson's statements drew harsh criticism Friday from some of the
lawyers involved in Guantanamo defense and from professional
groups. David J. Cynamon, a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw
Pittman who is representing Kuwaiti detainees held at Guantanamo,
told JURIST's Hotline:
Apparently, the Bush Administration has no good answers to the
legal and moral travesties at Guantanamo, so they have decided to
fall back on good old-fashioned lawyer bashing in a desperate
effort to change the subject. It is bad enough that they have
consistently flouted the Supreme Court's 2004 ruling that the
detainees are entitled to habeas corpus. Now they are attempting to
prevent the detainees from having legal counsel at all. It is truly
incredible that Stimson, an attorney himself, does not appear to
understand or care about the fundamental obligation of lawyers to
represent unpopular and indigent clients.
We and the other habeas counsel are very proud of the work we are
doing on behalf of the Guantanamo detainees, and we are confident
that the vast majority of our corporate clients feel the same way.
The true "news story" here is not that prominent law firms are
trying to get the detainees a fair hearing but that the Bush
Administration is trying to deny them one.
The President of the American Bar Association also issued a
statement Friday condemning Stimson's comments. Karen Mathis said:
Lawyers represent people in criminal cases to fulfill a core
American value: the treatment of all people equally before the law.
To impugn those who are doing this critical work -- and doing it on
a volunteer basis -- is deeply offensive to members of the legal
profession, and we hope to all Americans. The American Bar
Association supports lawyers who give of their time and expertise
defending those involved in legal actions. In fact it is one of the
basic tenets of the Association's Second Season of Service, that
lawyers should perform pro bono and volunteer work.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman has since said that Stimson's
comments "do not represent the views of the Defense Department or
the thinking of its leadership." McClatchy Newspapers has more.
01/13/07 - The New York Times Saturday quoted US Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales as saying on the matter: "Good lawyers
representing the detainees is the best way to ensure that justice
is done in these cases."
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