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Enroll official in Ethics 101
By WASHINGTON POST
Published January 15, 2007
Most Americans understand that legal representation for the accused is one of the core principles of the American way. Not, it seems, Cully Stimson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs. In a repellent interview Thursday with Federal News Radio, Stimson brought up, unprompted, the number of major U.S. law firms that have helped represent detainees at Guantanamo Bay. "Actually you know I think the news story that you're really going to start seeing in the next couple of weeks is this: As a result of a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request through a major news organization, somebody asked, 'Who are the lawyers around this country representing detainees down there,' and you know what, it's shocking," he said. Stimson proceeded to reel off the names of these firms, adding, "I think, quite honestly, when corporate CEOs see that those firms are representing the very terrorists who hit their bottom line back in 2001, those CEOs are going to make those law firms choose between representing terrorists or representing reputable firms, and I think that is going to have major play in the next few weeks. And we want to watch that play out." Asked who was paying the firms, Stimson hinted of dark doings. "It's not clear, is it?" he said. "Some will maintain that they are doing it out of the goodness of their heart, that they're doing it pro bono, and I suspect they are; others are receiving monies from who knows where, and I'd be curious to have them explain that." It's shocking that Stimson, a lawyer, would argue that law firms are doing anything other than upholding the highest ethical traditions by taking on unpopular defendants. It's shocking that he would seemingly encourage the firms' corporate clients to pressure them to drop this work. And it's shocking that this is the person the administration has chosen to oversee detainee policy at Guantanamo.
[Last modified January 15, 2007, 01:19:37]
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by Gerard
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01/15/07 07:33 PM
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LOL.
"Lawyers" and "ethical" are two words that don't belong in the same sentence.
If anything, this admirable public official exercised enormous self-restraint in his comments.
These ambulance-chasers should be sent to Gitmo themselves.
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by Roland
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01/15/07 04:25 PM
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What does Mr. Stimson say about law firms representing Halliburton against government charges that it over-billed for its work in Iraq and similar firms constantly opposing the government in courts, administrative and legislative investigations?
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by Geoff
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01/15/07 02:49 PM
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It's really not shocking at all. This is how this administration has been operating from the beginning. From the President, Vice-president, Sec. of Defense, State etc., slander,innuendo, inference or outright lies is the order of the day.No surprise!
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Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
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