veracity00
01-22-2007, 10:34 AM
Democracy Now!
Wednesday, January 17th, 2007
A top Pentagon official has urged US corporations to boycott law firms whose attorneys represent detainees at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Charles “Cully” Stimson- who is Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs - spoke last Thursday to Federal News Radio on the fifth anniversary of the first prisoners being sent to Guantanamo. Stimson listed some of the most prestigious corporate law firms in the country that are providing free representation to detainees and said that companies might want to consider taking their business elsewhere - to firms that are not “representing terrorists.”
Also from the article:
AMY GOODMAN: Dean Spieler, while this top Pentagon official did make these comments, he did take them back. Mr. Stimson did take them back. Do you think that there was a message being sent out?
EMILY SPIELER: Well, there certainly seemed to be. I think that the retraction was appropriate and needed. But the sense that there might be a chilling effect on the willingness of lawyers to take unpopular or difficult cases, because they might be under attack by the administration and they might find that their firms have some of their business jeopardized, is deeply troubling. And I think that the retraction is important, but the alacrity with which the organized bar, the American Bar Association, and also law deans responded is partly a reflection of the need for this continued response. You know, I think, fear, perhaps hope, that the retraction was a result of the response, but on the other hand, the statement should never have been made. And it's important that those of us who are leaders within the legal community continue to be vigilant on this issue.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/17/1541233
Wednesday, January 17th, 2007
A top Pentagon official has urged US corporations to boycott law firms whose attorneys represent detainees at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Charles “Cully” Stimson- who is Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs - spoke last Thursday to Federal News Radio on the fifth anniversary of the first prisoners being sent to Guantanamo. Stimson listed some of the most prestigious corporate law firms in the country that are providing free representation to detainees and said that companies might want to consider taking their business elsewhere - to firms that are not “representing terrorists.”
Also from the article:
AMY GOODMAN: Dean Spieler, while this top Pentagon official did make these comments, he did take them back. Mr. Stimson did take them back. Do you think that there was a message being sent out?
EMILY SPIELER: Well, there certainly seemed to be. I think that the retraction was appropriate and needed. But the sense that there might be a chilling effect on the willingness of lawyers to take unpopular or difficult cases, because they might be under attack by the administration and they might find that their firms have some of their business jeopardized, is deeply troubling. And I think that the retraction is important, but the alacrity with which the organized bar, the American Bar Association, and also law deans responded is partly a reflection of the need for this continued response. You know, I think, fear, perhaps hope, that the retraction was a result of the response, but on the other hand, the statement should never have been made. And it's important that those of us who are leaders within the legal community continue to be vigilant on this issue.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/17/1541233