VT lawyers hail Guantanamo court decision

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(Host) When the Supreme Court ruled today that Guantanamo Bay prisoners can challenge their detention in court, two lawyers in Vermont prepared to get to work.

The attorneys – both in the Northeast Kingdom – have volunteered to represent Guantanamo detainees.

They hailed the decision as historic and said they would take immediate steps to get their clients a hearing in a U.S. courtroom.

VPR’s John Dillon has more:

(Dillon) St. Johnsbury lawyer David Sleigh has never met his client who is incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay. He knows the man’s name – Faiz Sulieman – and he knows he’s from Yemen.

But now he hopes to find out what evidence the U.S. government is using against him.

(Sleigh) He’s been there four and a half years. No formal charges have ever been brought against him. And now he has access to the United States court system, and we will be taking swift and full advantage of that.

(Dillon) The Supreme Court ruled that the suspects held in the Cuba military prison have the right to challenge their detention.

The court held that the system of military commissions established by congress was unconstitutional.

Sleigh said he may file for a habeas corpus petition as early as Friday with a federal court in Washington DC. Habeas corpus is a century old legal doctrine that protects individuals against actions by the state. It says people have the right to see and challenge the evidence being used against them.

(Sleigh) So at least they’re talking about some minimal adversarial proceeding, and some minimal due process where people – defendants, detainees – can call for evidence in their favor.

(Dillon) Attorney Robert Gensburg also practices law in St. Johsbury. And like Sleigh, he was poring over the Supreme Court ruling. Gensburg represents a detainee from Afghanistan.

His client’s petition for a court hearing was denied several years ago. But under the Supreme Court ruling, he said the case will be quickly reactivated.

(Gensburg) The majority said these people have a right to a habeas hearing now. N-O-W.

(Dillon) Gensburg says he just got notice that a court in Washington D.C. will decide how to handle the habeas corpus petitions.

(Gensburg) What I’m hoping for is that the court in Washington… will show something it hasn’t shown yet, is that it too is going to uphold the rule of law in these cases.

(Dillon) Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy also praised the Supreme Court ruling. Leahy – who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee-said Congress made a grave error when it stripped the detainees of their right to a hearing in federal courts.

For VPR News, I’m John Dillon in Montpelier.

 

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