Saturday, April 3, 2010

Easter Victory: The Guantanamo Lawyers

I believe Easter is God's gift to humanity of victory over death, hopelessness and frailty, and I believe that God is alive and in our midst. This Easter, it's the witness of the Guantanamo lawyers that is confirming me in those beliefs.

I've written a lot before about the example of people like Andy Worthington, Lt. Col. Barry Wingard, and the makers of the Guantanamo film "The Response." Today I want to name the lawyers who contributed to a book by Mark P. Denbeaux and Jonathan Hafetz called "The Guantanamo Lawyers".


The Guantanamo Lawyers: 
Inside a Prison, Outside the Law
edited by Mark P. Denbeaux
and Jonathan Hafetz


As I heard Jonathan explain on Friday night at an event here in Chicago sponsored jointly by Barbara's Bookstore and Revolution Books, "The Guantanamo Lawyers" represents the witness of the lawyers who stepped up and took action to defend Guantanamo detainees (and, by extension, the system of law, due process, and governance from which we all benefit). The book records for posterity those lawyers' accounts of just what has happened in the American system of detention in the past ten years.

I have taken the liberty of reproducing the honor roll of Guantanamo lawyers below. To learn more, read the book.

There are over a hundred names on this list of people who have taken action in the name of life, hope, and strength. What are you prepared to do?

The Guantanamo Lawyers

Stephen E. Abraham
Muneer I. Ahmad
Baher Azmy
Jessica Baen
Scott Barker
Amal Bouhabib
Yvonne R. Bradley
David Brahms
Patricia A. Bronte
Charles H. Carpenter
Anne Castle
John A. Chandler
Christopher Chang
Christi Charpentier
George M. Clarke III
Jerry Cohen
Joshua Colangelo-Bryan
John Connolly
Brant S. Copeland
Cori Crider
Maya D. Curtis
David J. Cynamon
George Daly
Matthew Darby
Jeffrey M. Davis
Joshua W. Denbeaux
Mark P. Denbeaux
Adam Deutsch
Rebecca Dick
J. Wells Dixon
Bernhard Docke
Joshua L. Dratel
Buz Eisenberg
Marc D. Falkoff
Mark C. Fleming
Murray Fogler
Tina Monshipour Foster
David Frakt
Eric M. Freeman
Agnieszka Fryszman
Fjohn J. Gibbons
Elizabeth Gilson
H. Candace Gorman
Eldon V.C. Greenberg
Richard Grigg
David Grossman
Jonathan Hafetz
Masud Hasnain
Sarah H. Havens
Melissa Hoffer
John Robert Holland
Anna Cayton Holland-Edwards
Jonathan Horowitz
Susan Hu
Jayne C. Huckerby
Gaillard T. Hunt
AzizHuq
Krisine A. Huskey
Gary A. Isaac
Geremy Kamens
Ramzi Kassem
Jan K. Kitchel
Denny LeBoeuf
Allison M. Lefrak
Sarah H. Lorr
Ellen Lubell
Trip Mackintosh
Hanna F. Madbak
Emi MacLean
Howard J. Manchel
David Marshall
Julia Tarver Mason
David McColgin
Joe McMillan
George Brent Mickum VI
Michael D. Mori
Sahr Muhammedally
Mark Muoio
Donna R. Newman
Mari Newman
Jim Nickovich
Shawn Nolan
Matthew O'Hara
Andrew G. Patel
Chuck Patterson
Wesley R. Powell
Andrea J. Prasow
Jana Ramsey
Michael D. Ratner
Anant Raut
David H. Remes
Margaret L. Satterthwaite
John Sifton
Amrit Singh
Marjorie M. Smith
Kent Spriggs
Clive Stafford
Jeffrey M. Strauss
Dwight Sullivan
Thomas P. Sullivan
Alan Sussman
Doris Tennant
Hannah Tennant- Moore
Steven M. Watt
Carolyn M. Welshhans
P. Sabin Willett
Thomas B. Wilner
Elizabeth Wilson
Mark Wilson
Richard Wilson
Paul M. Winke
Ben Wizner
Gordon S. Woodward
Yasmin Zainulbhai



Stephen E. Abraham is an associate of Fink & Abraham LLP in Newport Beach, CA.

Muneer I. Ahmad is a clinical professor of law at Yale Law School.

Baher Azmy is a professor of law at Seton Hall University School of Law in Newark, NJ.

Jessica Baen has worked as a paralegal with the Guantanamo Global Justice Initiative at the Center for Constitutional Rights since 2006.

Scott Barker is a 1970 Air Force Academy graduate who served on active duty for eight years before resigning his commission to pursue a career as a trial lawyer in Denver, CO.

Amal Bouhabib was a member of the International Justice Clinic at Fordham Law School in New York, NY.

Lt. Col. Yvonne R. Bradley a twenty-plus-year member of the U. S. Air Force and U.S. Air Force Reserve, was appointed in November 2005 as a military defense counsel to represent Binyam Mohamed in the military commissions at Guantanamo.

Brigadier General David Brahms USMC (ret.)has a private practice in Carlsbad, CA.

Patricia A. Bronte practices civil rights law at Stowell & Friedman, Ltd. in Chicago. She is a former partner of Jenner & Block LLP.

Charles H. Carpenter is a partner at Pepper Hamilton LLP in Washington, DC.

Anne Castle has practiced law in Colorado for twenty-seven years, specializing in water law, and is involved in several organizations whose goal is to provide legal assistance to people who cannot afford to pay.

John A. Chandler is a partner at King & Spalding LLP.

Christopher Chang is a Guantanamo Team Investigator at the UK-based legal action charity Reprieve.

Christi Charpentier works in the Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

George M. Clarke III is a partner with Miller & Chevalier chartered in Washington, DC.

Jerry Cohen is a partner at Burns & Levinson LLP in Boston, MA.

Joshua Colangelo-Bryan is a senior attorney at Dorsey & Whitney in New York, NY.

John Connolly is a member of Murphy & Shaffer LLC, a small law firm in Baltimore, MD.

Brant S. Copeland is the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Tallahassee, FL.

Cori Crider is a staff attorney for Reprieve.

Maya D. Curtis currently manages her own immigration law firm, May Curtis Law LLC, and represented over fifteen prisoners in Guantanamo while working for Jenner & Block.

David J. Cynamon is a partner in the Washington, DC, office of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.

George Daly is a retired civil rights lawyer in Charlotte, NC.

Matthew Darby is currently practicing criminal law in Houston, TX.

Jeffrey M. Davis has a private practice in Charlotte, NC.

Joshua W. Denbeaux is a partner at the firm of Denbeaux & Denbeaux.

Mark P. Denbeaux is a professor of law at Seton Hall Law School and director of the Center for Policy and Research. He is also of counsel to the firm Denbeaux & Denbeaux.

Adam Deutsch is a research fellow with Seton Hall Law School's Center for Policy and Research.

Rebecca Dick formerly in private practice, is now a staff attorney at the Federal Trade Commission.

J. Wells Dixon is a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, NY.

Bernhard Docke is currently a partner at Dr. Heinrich Hannover & Partner, Bremen, Germany.

Joshua L. Dratel is an attorney and founder of Joshua L. Dratel PC in New York, NY.

Buz Eisenberg is of counsel to Weinberg & Garber.

Marc D. Falkoff is a professor at Northern Illinois University College of Law in DeKalb, IL.

Mark C. Fleming is a partner at WilmerHale in Boston, MA.

Murray Fogler is a trial lawyer and partner with Beck, Redden & Secrest in Houston, TX.

Tina Monshipour Foster is the Executive Director of the International Justice Network.

David Frakt is a lawyer for the Air Force Reserve and a professor at Western State University College of Law in Fullerton, CA.

Eric M. Freeman is the Maurice A. Deane Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law at Hofstra Law School.

Agnieszka Fryszman is a partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll; she represents four men who have been detained by the United States at Guantanamo Bay.

Fjohn J. Gibbons is the founder of the John J. Gibbons Fellowship in Public Interest and Constitutional Law at Gibbons PC in Newark, NJ, and a director at the firm. He is the former chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Elizabeth Gilson is a sole practitioner in New Haven, CT, concentrating on environmental law.

H. Candace Gorman is a solo-practitioner in Chicago, IL, who concentrates in civil rights and human rights law.

Eldon V.C. Greenberg is a partner at Garvey Schubert Barer In Washington, DC.

Richard Grigg is a partner at Spivey & Grigg in Austin, TX.

David Grossman is a staff attorney with the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project.

Jonathan Hafetz is an attorney with the National Security Project of the American Civil Liberties Union and has litigated numerous post-9/11 detention cases.

Masud Hasnain is an Arabic interpreter and translator for lawyers at Guantanamo and lives in Virginia.

Sarah H. Havens is an associate at Allen & Overy in New York, NY.

Melissa Hoffer is Vice President of the Conservation Law Foundation. She represented Guantanamo detianees while a junior partner at WilmerHale.

John Robert Holland and Anna Cayton Holland-Edwards are a father and daughter practicing together. Erica Grossman is also a member of the firm and involved in the firm's Guantanamo cases.

Jonathan Horowitz is Research Director of One World Research in New York, NY.

Susan Hu is a law student at New York University School of Law. She worked at the Center for Constitutional Rights as a paralegal on the Guantanamo Global Justice Inititative from 2006-2008.

Jayne C. Huckerby is Research Director of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Clinical Law at New York University Law School.

Gaillard T. Hunt has a private practice in Silver Spring, MD.

Aziz Huq is an assistant professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School.

Krisine A. Huskey is a clinical professor and co- director of the National Security Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law.

Gary A. Isaac is Counsel at the Chicago office of Mayer Brown.

Geremy Kamens is First Assistant Federal Public Defender for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Ramzi Kassem is Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School.

Jan K. Kitchel is a partner at Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt in Portland, OR.

Denny LeBoeuf is the director of the John Adams Project of the American Civil Liberties Union providing attorneys and resources in defense of Guantanamo capital cases.

Allison M. Lefrak is an associate at Reed Smith in Washington, DC.

Sarah H. Lorr is a student at Fordham Law School in New York, NY.

Ellen Lubell is a principal of the firm Tennant Lubell LLC in Newton, MA.

Trip Mackintosh currently practices in the areas of white-collar criminal defense and export controls compliance and defense in Denver, CO.

Hanna F. Madbak is an associate at Baker Hostetler in New York, NY.

Emi MacLean was a staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights from 2006 to 2009.

Howard J. Manchel is a partner at Manchel, Wiggns, Kaye LLP.

David Marshall has a private practice in Seattle, WA.

Julia Tarver Mason is a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP in New York, NY.

David McColgin is a Supervisory Assistant Federal Defender in charge of the Appeals Unit for the Federal Community Defender Office in Philadelphia, PA.

Joe McMillan is a partner at Perkins Coie in Seattle, WA.

George Brent Mickum VI is a partner at Spriggs & Hollingsworth in Washington, DC.

MajorMichael D. Mori U.S. Marine Corps, served as military defense counsel for Guantanamo detainee David Hicks.

Sahr Muhammedally is a senior associate in the Law and Security Program at Human Rights First.

Mark Muoio received his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law School in 2009 and has been a fellow at the Center for Policy and Research since 2007.

Donna R. Newman is a partner at Buttermore Newman Delanney & Foltz in New York, NY.

Mari Newman is a partner at Killmer, Lane & Newman LLP in Denver, where she practices civil rights and employment law.

Jim Nickovich practices law in San Francisco, CA.

Shawn Nolan works in the Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Matthew O'Hara is a partner of Reed Smith LLP in Chicago, IL.

Andrew G. Patel has a private practice in New York, NY.

Chuck Patterson is a partner at Morrison & Foerster in Los Angeles, CA.

Wesley R. Powell is a partner at Hunton & Williams in New York City.

Andrea J. Prasow is a defense attorney in the Office of the Chief Defense Counsel, Office of Military Commissions.

Jana Ramsey is an associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison LLP.

Michael D. Ratner is an attorney and the president of the Center for Constitutional Rights. With CCR he is the author of "The Trial of Donald Rumsfeld: A Prosecution by Book."

Anant Raut is Counsel to the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States House of Representatives. He formerly represented Guantanamo detainees while an associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.

David H. Remes is Legal Director of Appeal for Justice, a nonprofit human rights and civil liberties litigation firm. Before founding Appeal for Justice in 2008, he was a partner at Covington & Burling LLP in Washington, DC.

Margaret L. Satterthwaite is Faculty Director of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice and Associate Professor of Clinical Law at New York University School of Law.

John Sifton is an attorney, private investigator, and writer. He has worked for Human Rghts Watch and One World Research.

Amrit Singh is a staff attorney at the Immigrants' Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. She is coauthor (with Jameel Jaffer) of "Administration of Torture, A Documentary Record from Washington to Abu Ghraib and Beyond."

Marjorie M. Smith has her own practice in Piermont, NY, where she specializes in federal criminal appeals and habeas corpus.

Kent Spriggs is the practitioner of Spriggs Law Firm in Tallahassee, FL.

Clive Stafford is Founder and Director of Reprieve in London, England.

Jeffrey M. Strauss has practiced law at Mayer Brown in Chicago for 28 years, focusing on complex litigation and corporate transactions. He has also been involved in pro bono work on behalf of Guantanamo detainees.

ColonelDwight Sullivan United States Marine Corps Reserve, served as Chief Defense Counsel in the Office of Military Commissions from 2005 to 2007.

Thomas P. Sullivan is a partner at Jenner Block in Chicago, IL.

Alan Sussman was a partner in the law firm Ricken, Goldman, Sussman & Blythe, Kingston, NY, and is currently an adjunct professor at Bard College.

Doris Tennant is an attorney of Tennant Lubell LLC in Newton, MA.

Hannah Tennant-Moore is an award-winning freelance writer who has covered the Guantanamo litigation extensively.

Steven M. Watt is a senior staff attorney with the Human Rights Program of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Carolyn M. Welshhans represented prisoners at Guantanamo while employed at Dechert LLP.

P. Sabin Willett is a partner at Bingham McCutchen in Boston, MA.

Thomas B. Wilner is of counsel at Shearman & Sterling LLP in Washington, DC.

Elizabeth Wilson is Assistant Professor of Human Rights Law at the John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University.

Mark Wilson is Senior Trial Counsel at the Federal Community Defender for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Richard Wilson is a professor of law and Director of the International Human rights Law Clinic at American University Washington College of Law in Washington, DC.

Paul M. Winke is a counsel of WilmerHale in New York, NY.

Ben Wizner has been a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union since 2001.

Gordon S. Woodward is a partner with the law firm of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP.

Yasmin Zainulbhai is a student at Fordham Law School in New York, NY.


Related posts


The defense team for the Guantanamo detainee Fayiz al Kandari was in Kuwait this week, publicizing the case and encouraging people there to demand that the United States government release the two Kuwaitis held at Guantanamo.

(See People in Kuwait Raising Their Voices Against Guantanamo )






My most prominent memory of my first viewing of the Guantanamo film, The Response, is of one of the stars of the film -- Kate Mulgrew of Star Trek fame -- participating in a panel after the screening. I was blown away when she said, "I did this because our civil liberties in our country have been gravely damaged and we all need to contribute to repairing them."

(See Understanding What Guantanamo Means)



What would Christians think if someone proposed carving out a slice of their Sunday services to worship the God of Entombment? Wouldn't they think that was absurd? After all, if Christianity is anything, isn't it the religion of "UN-entombment"?

(See When is Christianity Going Back to Being the Religion of "UN-entombment"?)


Sometimes it feels like people who are concerned about Guantanamo are a handful of voices in the wilderness. Then there are moments when a lot of people get pulled into the conversation. "Law Day" -- sponsored nationwide by the American Bar Association (ABA) and implemented by state bar associations in each state -- is an example of the latter.

(See Guantanamo - What Would John Adams Say? )




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