U.S. GOVERNMENT FILES OPPOSITION BRIEF IN CCR GUANTANAMO SUPREME COURT CASE

On October 9, 2007, the U.S. government filed its opposing brief in the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) Supreme Court case that will decide once again whether the Guantanamo detainees have the right to challenge their detention.

Said Shayana Kadidal, Managing Attorney for CCR's Guantanamo Global Justice Initiative, "The Supreme Court decided every major issue in this case three years ago. Today's brief from the government has no new arguments to offer, except to suggest that if the court meant what it said in 2004, it should simply say so, stop there, and not instruct the lower courts on the type of review they should conduct. That is simply an argument for added delays-an attempt to run out the clock so that the mess Rumsfeld, Gonzales and President Bush have made is left to the next President to clean up. The Court needs to affirm that the President can't imprison innocent people forever without charge or judicial review just because they are held offshore."

The Supreme Court affirmed the detainees' right to habeas corpus review both in CCR's landmark case Rasul v. Bush in 2004 and in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld in 2006. The Center for Constitutional Rights represents many of the detainees at Guantanamo and coordinates the work of nearly 500 pro bono attorneys.

The Center for Constitutional Rights works with communities under threat to fight for justice and liberation through litigation, advocacy, and strategic communications. Since 1966, the Center for Constitutional Rights has taken on oppressive systems of power, including structural racism, gender oppression, economic inequity, and governmental overreach. Learn more at ccrjustice.org.

 

Last modified 

January 29, 2008