The ‘Loyalty’ of Department of Justice Lawyers and the Role of Defence Counsel
Last week, a group called ‘Keep America Safe’, led by Elizabeth Cheney, released a video questioning the loyalty of Obama administration lawyers who have represented suspected terrorists. The group criticises Eric Holder and the Department of Justice for not releasing the names of seven of the nine lawyers appointed to the DoJ, asking “Who are these government officials?” “Whose values do they share?” and dubbing them the “Al Qaeda Seven”. In the background of the video hangs a headline “DoJ: Department of Jihad”. A subsequent investigation by Fox News revealed the names of the lawyers.
These events have sparked a series of debates on the rule of law, the right to counsel, to role of lawyers, and the right to a zealous defence. There have been cries of “McCarthyism”, claims that prisoners of war are not entitled to representation, and allegations that habeas lawyers in the US were using the federal courts as a tool to undermine the military’s ability to keep dangerous enemy combatants off the battlefield in a time of war.
On the role of defence counsel, a group of prominent lawyers, including conservatives and former Bush administration officials, signed a letter denouncing the “shameful series of attacks on attorneys in the Department of Justice who, in previous legal practice, either represented Guantánamo detainees or advocated for changes to detention policy.” It goes on to say “as attorneys, former officials, and policy specialists who have worked on detention issues, we consider these attacks both unjust to the individuals in question and destructive of any attempt to build lasting mechanisms for counterterrorism adjudications,” and concludes “to delegitimize the role detainee counsel play is to demand adjudications and policymaking stripped of a full record. Whatever systems America develops to handle difficult detention questions will rely, at least some of the time, on an aggressive defense bar; those who take up that function do a service to the system.”
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham also denounced the video, stating “A defense attorney who is making the government do their job regardless of the nature of the case is making this whole country a better place.”
For more debate, commentary and reactions:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/opinion/08mon1.html?ref=opinion
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/us/politics/10lawyers.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/03/03/exclusive-unknown-doj-lawyers-identified/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNZukOOrDTM
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34143.html#ixzz0hlHJzl10