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ACLU sues on behalf of former govât prosecutor who spoke out about Gitmo trials


Posted: Jan 12, 2010

By Stephen C. Webster
Monday, January 11th, 2010 -- 10:15 pm

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a former government prosecutor who was fired after he spoke out against the Obama administration's handling of Guantanamo Bay detainees.

The suit alleges Col. Morris D. Davis was fired from the Congressional Research Service after he wrote an article and letter to the editor critical of Obama's continuation of the military commission trials started by President Bush.

"Col. Davis has a constitutional right to speak about issues of which he has expert knowledge, and the public has a right to hear from him," said Aden Fine, staff attorney with the ACLU First Amendment Working Group, according to a media advisory. "Col. Davis's firsthand experience is invaluable to the ongoing debate over military commissions, and the public should not be denied the chance to hear from him just because he is a public employee."

But he wasn't always a critic. At one point in time, Col. Davis "was the chief prosecutor at Guantánamo Bay and the most colorful champion of the Bush administration’s military commission system," The New York Times noted in 2008.

However, in late 2007, Col. Davis claimed that the Department of Defense had tried to interfere with the prosecutions, seeing "real strategic political value" in convictions.

The remainder of the article can be found at:

http://rawstory.com/2010/01/aclu-sues-behalf-govt-prosecutor-spoke-gitmo-trials/

 

;

CRS claims do not hold water. - TXMT

[ In Reply To ..]
Given that the burden of proof lies with CRS to show that their interests (to remain âfair and unbiasedâ) outweigh those of Colonel Davis and First Amendment rights of private citizens, it doubtful they will prevail. Col. Davis did not mention his employer in his article or opinion piece. Citing Garcetti v. Ceballos, "public employees still retain their first amendment rights even when speaking about issues directly related to their employment, as long as they are speaking as private citizens."

http://www.truthout.org/1208096


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