January, 15 2010, 10:07am EDT
ACLU in Court Tuesday to Challenge Firing of Former Guantanamo Prosecutor by Library of Congress
Col. Morris Davis Illegally Fired for Speaking Out About Military Commissions
WASHINGTON
The
American Civil Liberties Union will be in federal court in Washington,
D.C. on Tuesday, January 19, seeking an injunction to compel the
Library of Congress to reinstate Col. Morris Davis to his job at the
Library's Congressional Research Service (CRS).
Davis, the former chief prosecutor for the Guantanamo military
commissions, was terminated from his job as the Assistant Director of
the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Division at CRS because of
opinion pieces he wrote in his personal capacity about the military
commissions system. Davis was then transferred to a temporary 30-day
position at CRS, which will expire on January 20. The ACLU has asked
the court to issue a ruling by that date.
The ACLU filed a lawsuit earlier this month charging that CRS violated
Davis's right to free speech and due process when it fired him for
speaking as a private citizen about matters of public concern having
nothing to do with his responsibilities at CRS.
WHAT:
Hearing in Davis v. Billington on the ACLU's motion for a temporary
restraining order and/or preliminary injunction to compel the Library
of Congress to reinstate Col. Morris Davis to his former job as
Assistant Director of the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Division
at the Congressional Research Service, and to block the Library from
hiring a permanent replacement for that position in the interim.
WHO:
Aden Fine, staff attorney with the ACLU First Amendment Working Group,
will argue before Judge Reggie B. Walton of the United States District
Court for the District of Columbia. Defendants in the lawsuit are James
Billington, the Librarian of Congress, and Daniel Mulhollan, Davis's
supervisor at CRS.
WHEN:
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
9:30 a.m. EST
WHERE:
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Courtroom 16
333 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C.
More information about the case is available online at: www.aclu.org/free-speech/davis-v-billington
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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