Press Releases
Liberty & National Security
Brief Forestalls Transfer of US Citizen Held Without Hearing or Charge to Iraqi Custody
Petitioner Shawqi Omar and his wife and son as next friends hereby submit supplemental briefing requested by the Court in support of the request for a Temporary Restraining Order preventing the United States government from transferring Mr. Omar, a United States citizen, to Iraqi authorities.
– 02/04/06
Brennan Center Files Brief in Guantanamo Detainees’ Case
The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law yesterday filed a friend of the court brief arguing that the Detainee Treatment Act does not cut off meaningful access to the courts for detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
– 01/26/06
Brennan Center Opposes Undermining of Anti-Torture Ban by Graham-Levin-Kyl Amendment
The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law expressed deep concern over a provision of the Defense Appropriations bill that Congress has passed. This provision would effectively permit the use of evidence obtained by torture in the cases of Guantanamo Naval Base detainees. At issue is an amendment, introduced by Senators Lindsey Graham, Carl Levin and Jon Kyl that would severely curtail federal court review of detainees cases, allow military tribunals to rely on evidence gained from torture, and undermine vital ongoing attorney-client relations for Guantanamo detainees.
– 12/23/05
Retired Federal Judges Urge Congress Not to Pass “Court-Stripping” Measure that Would Deny Rights in
A group of retired federal judges urged lawmakers not to strip federal courts of the power to hear habeas corpus pleas from prisoners detained at the Guantnamo Naval Base. In a letter sent to Congress yesterday, they warned that this proposal would undermine the rule of law and constitutional tradition. The Brennan Center for Justice helped coordinate the judges efforts.
– 12/08/05
Constitutional Scholars Voice Grave Concern at Court-Stripping Amendment
A wide coalition of leading law professors today urged Congress to reject efforts to strip the federal courts of the ability to hear habeas corpus cases from the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The letter, signed by more than 350 law professors, came in response to the passage late last week of an amendment to the Defense Appropriations Act by Senator Lindsey Graham. The Graham Amendment apparently seeks to cut off the cases filed by detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
– 11/14/05
National Law and Security Expert Provides Testimony on Detainees
Professor Stephen J. Schulhofer of NYU School of Law and co-author of the new report released by the Brennan Center for Justice, The Secrecy Problem in Terrorism Trials, provided testimony in todays Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on detainees.
– 06/15/05
Brennan Center for Justice Files Brief in Jose Padilla Case
An amicus (friend of the court) brief was filed today by the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty and National Security Project at NYU School of Law in Jose Padilla v. Commander C.T. Hanft, supporting the District of South Carolina Court’s finding the detention of Jose Padilla to be in violation of the Constitution.
– 02/14/05
Court Steps In To Block US Citizen’s Transfer to Torture
Last Friday, February 3, 2006, Judge Ricardo M. Urbina of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., issued an order barring the U.S. Government from transferring an American citizen, Shawqi Omar, to Iraqi authorities where he would be at grave risk of torture. Judge Urbina issued this emergency order last week to stop Mr. Omars possible midnight transfer to Iraqi hands and has asked for further briefing about the pivotal Separation of Powers issues raised by the case.
– 02/07/05