October, 15 2009, 03:49pm EDT
Louisiana Court Battle Over Guantanamo Psychologist Continues Today
State Psychology Board Challenged over Refusal to Investigate Alleged Ethical Violations by Dr. Larry James
BATON ROUGE, La. and NEW YORK
Today, attorneys filed an appeal before the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal, in the case Dr. Trudy Bond v. Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists.
Toledo-based psychologist Dr. Trudy Bond is calling on the Louisiana
State Board of Examiners to investigate Louisiana psychologist and
retired U.S. Army colonel Dr. Larry C. James, a former high-ranking
advisor on interrogations for the U.S. military in Guantanamo Bay and
Abu Ghraib.
According to his own statements, Dr. James played an influential role
in both the policy and day-to-day operations of interrogations and
detention at the prison camps. Publicly-available information shows
that while Dr. James was at Guantanamo, abuse in interrogations was
widespread, and cruel and inhuman treatment was official policy.
Allegations of abuse during Dr. James's January to May 2003 deployment
include beatings, religious and sexual humiliation, rape threats and
painful body positions. Canadian citizen Omar Khadr, who is still
imprisoned in Guantanamo, is one of the prisoners who has alleged
brutal treatment in the spring of 2003, when he was only 16 years old.
James was also stationed in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison in 2004 and
returned to Guantanamo in 2007. In 2008, he was named Dean of the
School of Professional Psychology at Wright State University in Dayton,
Ohio.
In compliance with her ethical obligation to report abuse by other
psychologists, in February 2008 Dr. Bond filed a complaint against Dr.
James before the Board, the agency that issued and now regulates his
psychology license. Dr. Bond alleged that Dr. James breached
professional ethics by violating psychologists' duties to do no harm,
to protect confidential information and to obtain informed consent, and
she called on the Board to investigate whether action should be taken
against Dr. James.
As Chief Psychologist of the Joint Intelligence Group and a senior
member of the Behavioral Science Consultation Team (BSCT) at
Guantanamo, Dr. James had access to the confidential medical records of
people he was charged with exploiting for intelligence. According to
former Guantanamo interrogators, BSCTs used information from patients'
records to help interrogators increase the patients' psychological
duress, including by exploiting their fears. The very purpose of these
mental health professional teams, the interrogators said, was to help
"break" the prisoners. Dr. James denies that claim, but an extensive
government paper trail supports the interrogators' accounts.
The Board summarily refused to investigate Dr. Bond's complaint,
claiming that the statute of limitations had run, despite conclusive
information to the contrary. Dr. Bond then filed suit against the Board
in Louisiana's 19th Judicial District Court, which in July 2009
dismissed her case without looking at the merits. Today's brief before
the First Circuit Court in Baton Rouge argues that the District Court
should have reviewed the Board's clearly wrong legal decision.
Said Dr. Bond, "The five psychologists on the
Louisiana Board were given plenty of credible evidence, but they chose
not to investigate the head intelligence psychologist of prison camps
notorious for their use of psychological torture. I don't think
Louisiana lawmakers intended to give five fellow professionals total,
unchecked power to make arbitrary decisions that deeply affect the
public welfare."
Said CCR Cooperating Attorney Deborah Popowski,
"The Louisiana Board is fighting awfully hard to turn a blind eye to
serious allegations of abuse. We wish the Board would devote its
resources to investigating unethical conduct instead. Everyone,
including the people of Louisiana, would be better served."
For more information on the involvement of health professionals in
torture and abuse visit the Center for Constitutional Rights website https://whenhealersharm.org.
CCR has led the legal battle over Guantanamo for the last six years -
sending the first ever habeas attorney to the base and sending the
first attorney to meet with a former CIA "ghost detainee" there. CCR
has been responsible for organizing and coordinating more than 500 pro
bono lawyers across the country in order to represent the men at
Guantanamo, ensuring that nearly all have the option of legal
representation. In addition, CCR has been working to resettle the
approximately 60 men who remain at Guantanamo because they cannot
return to their country of origin for fear of persecution and torture.
Attached Files
- Bond Appeal Brief.pdf
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. CCR is committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.
(212) 614-6464LATEST NEWS
Trump's Revived Anti-Worker Rules Condemned as 'Outright Grift'
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Feb 26, 2026
President Donald Trump's "barrage of attacks on workers" continued on Thursday with announcements about two key labor rules.
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The DOL's Wage and Hour Division proposal would replace the Biden administration's widely celebrated 2024 policy for when employers can treat workers as independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act with business-friendly guidance that resembles a rule adopted just before the end of Trump's first term.
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Unlike the DOL proposal, the board's rule is final. The NLRB—which has two Trump appointees, one Biden appointee, and two vacancies—said in the Federal Register that "the 2023 rule was vacated by the district court, and the action the board takes today merely implements the court's decision. Our action is ministerial and therefore will have no separate economic effect."
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Murray isn't up for reelection in November's closely watched midterms, but could lead the Senate Appropriations Committee if Democrats reclaim the chamber. On Thursday, she vowed that "I am going to keep fighting for laws on the books that protect workers and build an economy that grows the middle-class, not just profit margins for the largest corporations on Earth."
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The number of journalists killed by Israel is remarkably high even when compared to the number of journalists killed in other conflict zones.
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A report issued in December by Reporters Without Borders similarly found that Israel was responsible for the most journalists deaths in 2025, the third consecutive year that the country had held that distinction.
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"The rising number of journalist deaths globally is fueled by a persistent culture of impunity," the report states. "Very few transparent investigations have been conducted into the 47 cases of targeted killings (classified as 'murder' in CPJ’s longstanding methodology) documented by CPJ in 2025—the highest number of journalists deliberately killed for their work in the past decade—and no one has been held accountable in any of the cases."
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Feb 26, 2026
Update (4:25 pm ET):
Columbia University student Ellie Aghayeva was released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody Thursday afternoon after New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani expressed concerns about her detention in a meeting with President Donald Trump earlier in the day.
Mamdani shared the news on social media at 3:13 pm Eastern time.
“Just got off the phone with President Trump,” he wrote. “In our meeting earlier, I shared my concerns about Columbia student Elaina Aghayeva, who was detained by ICE this morning. He has just informed me that she will be released imminently.”
Aghayaeva then confirmed her release on her Instagram account, according to journalist Prem Thakker.
“I just got out a little while ago. I am safe and OK,” she wrote from an Uber on her way home.
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Earlier:
This is a developing story... Please check back for possible updates...
Federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security abducted an international student with a visa from her apartment in a Columbia University-owned building in New York on Thursday, after lying to gain access to her home.
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They then detained Ellie Aghayeva, a senior studying neuroscience and political science, according to a statement from her friends that was given to the American Association of University Professors.
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a Democrat, said in a statement that agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had "used a phony missing persons bulletin for a 5-year-old girl."
"It is unconfirmed at this time whether they impersonated an officer to do so," Hoylman-Sigal told Prem Thakker of Zeteo News.
State Assemblymember Micah Lasher (D-69) told the New York Times that the ICE agents had presented themselves as police officers. A building superintendent let them in upon learning about the supposed missing child and led them to Aghayeva's apartment.
According to the ACLU: "ICE agents should not be falsely impersonating another government official or claiming they have a different governmental purpose to gain your permission to come into your home. A person’s 'consent' under these circumstances is not valid. ICE’s resulting entry in the home and any arrests they conduct violate the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution."
After being arrested, Aghayeva managed to post a one-second Instagram video to her 105,000 followers with the message, "DHS illegally arrested me. Please help."
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Protest outside Columbia going on right now after ICE abducted a student on campus early this morning.@JumaaneWilliams and @bradhoylman are here. pic.twitter.com/0fARmHEBvJ
— Timmy Facciola (@TimmyFacciola_) February 26, 2026
Court records showed that a lawyer for Aghayeva had filed an emergency petition requesting her release.
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Columbia students including Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi were been detained last year by immigration agents under the Trump administration; Mahdawi had asked Columbia officials to move him to a safe location prior to his arrest, but his lawyer told The Intercept that university had told him it was unable to move him to housing where he would be protected.
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"Yet again, ICE is using blatantly illegal trickery to circumvent judicial warrant requirements and abduct a student," said former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, now a candidate for the US House in the state's 10th District. "These are the tactics of brownshirts. That’s why I’ve long been calling to abolish ICE. And why Congress should not grant them one more penny."
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