MJC ATTORNEY MARGULIES A KEY PLAYER IN GUANTANAMO CASE
Update (October 1, 2006)
Joseph Margulies Testifies Again Before Senate Judiciary Committee About Rights of Guantanamo Bay Detainees
In September, MacArthur Justice Center Attorney Joseph Margulies appeared again before the Senate Judiciary Committee to present his examination of pending legislation to limit Guantanamo detainees’ access to habeas corpus review.
Margulies addressed whether the alternative created by the pending legislation – a Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRT) to hear prisoners’ cases, followed by limited review in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia – provides an adequate substitute for the rights guaranteed by habeas. He concludes that this proposed process is unjust.
"Whether viewed in isolation or their entirety, the procedures used by the CSRT are a mockery of our commitment to due process," said Margulies in his testimony.
Download Margulies' September 25, 2006 testimony (pdf)
Update (June 15, 2005)
MacArthur Justice Center Lawyer Margulies Testifies Before Senate Judiciary Committee
MacArthur Justice Center Attorney Joseph Margulies testified today before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the conditions at Guantanamo Bay and the rights of prisoners being held there. The hearing was the Senate's first step in a process to clarify the law under which enemy combatants are held at Guantanamo Bay.
Margulies was the lead consul in Rasul v. Bush-the case in which the U.S. Supreme Court found that Guantanamo Bay prisoners have the right to challenge their detention in federal court. After the ruling, the government established the Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRT) to hear prisoners' cases, but Margulies and others contend that the process is unjust.
"Whether viewed in isolation or their entirety, the procedures used by the CSRT are a mockery of our commitment to due process," said Margulies in his testimony.
Download Margulies' testimony (pdf)
Update (December 13, 2004)
MacArthur Justice Center and Mandel Legal Aid Clinic Host Luncheon at Jenner & Block's Chicago Office to Discuss Impact of Supreme Court's Enemy Combatant Decisions
In June, 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Bush Administration's policy of detaining foreign nationals without legal process at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station was illegal. The Court determined that the prisoners could not be held in a prison beyond the law, and were entitled to basic legal rights. MacArthur Justice Center attorney Joseph Margulies is the lead counsel for petitioners in Rasul v. Bush.
