November, 05 2009, 01:26pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Matthew Allee, Constitution Project, (202) 580-6922 or (202) 257-9670, mallee@constitutionproject.org
Media Availability: Prominent Legal, National Security Experts Say Graham Amendment Delays Justice for Victims of Terrorism
Former Navy Judge Advocate General, Federal Prosecutors oppose measure that bans bringing accused 9-11 terrorists to justice in U.S. Courts
WASHINGTON
A group of prominent legal and national security experts is urging
members of the Senate to defeat an effort to block Justice Department
funding for the prosecution of suspected 9-11 terrorist within the U.S
and is available for interview. Today, Senator Lindsey Graham is
expected to propose such an amendment as the Senate considers the
Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations bill. The measure could
derail any Obama Administration plan to try some Guantanamo detainees -
including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - in U.S. federal courts.
Each
of the prominent Americans below has signed a bipartisan declaration
(Beyond Guantanamo, available below) that backs a single scheme for the
disposition of cases of current and future detainees. The declaration
sets forth principles for dealing with present and future terrorists
detainees upon the closing of Guantanamo:
* Indefinite
detention without charge should be rejected because it will result in
protracted litigation and delayed justice, weaken our alliance, and
undermine constitutional principles at home; and
- Terrorism suspects should be tried in federal courts.
Stephen Abraham
Stephen
Abraham is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army. He
was the first officer to publicly criticize the Combatant Status Review
Tribunals at Guantanamo, filing an affidavit before the U.S. Supreme
Court in the detainee habeas case Boumediene v. Bush.
Former Congressman Bob Barr
Bob
Barr was the United States attorney for the Northern District of
Georgia from 1986 to 1990 and served in the U.S. House of
Representatives from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Judiciary Committee.
Rear Admiral John D. Hutson, JAGC, USN (Ret.)
Rear
Admiral John D. Hutson served in the U. S. Navy from 1973 to 2000. He
was the Navy's Judge Advocate General from 1997 to 2000. Admiral Hutson
now serves as President and Dean of the Franklin Pierce Law Center in
Concord, New Hampshire. He also joined Human Rights First's Board of
Directors in 2005.
Major General William L. Nash, USA (Ret.)
General
Nash served in the Army for 34 years and is a veteran of Vietnam and
Operation Desert Storm. He has extensive experience in peacekeeping
operations, both as a military commander in Bosnia-Herzegovina
(1995-1996) and as a civilian administrator for the United Nations in
Kosovo (2000). Since his retirement in 1998, General Nash has been a
Fellow and Visiting Lecturer at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of
Government (1998), and Director of Civil-Military Programs at the
National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (1999-2000),
and a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations
(2001-2009). He is also a professorial lecturer at Georgetown
University, a visiting lecturer at Princeton University, and a military
consultant for ABC News.
Richard A. Rossman
Chief
of Staff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 1998-1999;
U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Michigan, 1980-1981; Chief Assistant
U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Michigan, 1977-1980; Chief Deputy
Federal Defender, Eastern District of Michigan, 1972-1975
Beyond Guantanamo: A Bipartisan Declaration - Background Materials
To view the Declaration, go to:
https://www.constitutionproject.org/manage/file/347.pdf
For the list of signatories to the Declaration, go to:
https://www.constitutionproject.org/manage/file/348.pdf
For additional materials, visit:
The Constitution Project is a politically independent think tank established in 1997 to promote and defend constitutional safeguards. More information about the Constitution Project is available at https://constitutionproject.org/.
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