Yes, the pervert has had his hands slapped. We will have to wait and see if that will change anything.
Yesterday Judge Lamberth ruled on a motion by several Gitmo
attorneys regarding the never ending problem by those of us representing men at
Guantanamo to actually meet with our clients.
Lamberth's Opinion acknowledges that "The
government seemingly at every turn has acted to deny or restrict Guantanamo
detainees' access to counsel." And the government's motivation for genital searches is to "deter counsel access". And "The court,
whose duty it is to call the jailer to account, will not countenance the
jailer's interference with detainees' access to counsel."
As to the government's excuses----"This justification does not
hold water."
The judge also states:
"The government’s attempts to justify the new procedure on the basis of Latif’s suicide have the patina of pretext to them."
“[t]he government is a recidivist when it comes to denying counsel access.”
"The government’s repeated actions substantially increase the likelihood that its justification is mere pretext and that the new searches represent an 'exaggerated response' to its legitimate interest in security of the detention facility."
The judge also states:
"The government’s attempts to justify the new procedure on the basis of Latif’s suicide have the patina of pretext to them."
“[t]he government is a recidivist when it comes to denying counsel access.”
"The government’s repeated actions substantially increase the likelihood that its justification is mere pretext and that the new searches represent an 'exaggerated response' to its legitimate interest in security of the detention facility."
The judge went on to hold:
1.
Genital searches are banned
2.
Hunger-striking detainees can meet with lawyers in Camp 5 or 6, space
permitting.
3.
Detainees being transported shall be permitted to ride in vans that allow them
to sit upright.
Charlie
Savage has more…..
I will try to explain more over the
weekend (when I have a little more time on my hands!) but for now I will just say
that Chief Judge Lamberth has pretty much been a weakling in the Guantanamo
litigation and he should be ashamed of himself- he has allowed the government to ride roughshod over the
constitution and deny the men even the most basic human rights--because of his own incoherent fears- [note my recusal motion started because of Judge Lamberth's public speech declaring his fear to release anyone from Guantanamo because they might be the one to blow up the capitol-but the motion moved on to other issues after the DOJ admitted to an ex-parte conversation with the judge about discovery in my clients case] [as a second side note- the judge has never ruled in favor of a Guantanamo detainee in a habeas hearing] but yesterday- even Judge Lamberth apparently realized that “enough is enough”….of course this is more than 11 years after most of
our clients have been held without charge or anything resembling due process….Judge Lamberth is a johnny-come-lately
but I guess that is the most we can hope for right now.
Jim White at emptywheel has more here.
Jim White at emptywheel has more here.
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