The following memo was distributed yesterday at one of the law firms criticized by the Bush Administration for providing legal aid to the Guantanamo detainees.
MEMORANDUM FOR ALL ATTORNEYS IN THE NEW YORK AND WASHINGTON OFFICES
Re: Pro bono representation of Guantanamo detainees
Each of you has likely read over the past few days about the extraordinary attack by Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Stimson on major law firms, including our own, that have provided pro bono representation to Gunatanamo detainees, as well as the responses and press reports that his remarks have elicited. Among others, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have published widely different editorial views on the matter.
I know I speak for many of us in expressing my astonishment at Mr. Stimson’s attack upon the lawyers, including many of our own colleagues, who are doing this work. His comments show a lack of understanding of principles that are at least as old as our Republic. Members of the legal profession are the only people in our society who are authorized to provide legal services to others, and the private bar in this country has therefore long recognized that its members have an ethical and professional obligation to devote a part of their time to legal representation of those in need. This obligation is particularly pressing in cases of persons imprisoned by our government who are not in a position to defend themselves, such as Guantanamo detainees. It is a basic principle that these detainees, like any person whose life or liberty is at stake because of official actions, should receive competent legal representation and defense.
Contrary to Mr. Stimson’s suggestions, we are providing this representation free of charge, entirely at the firm’s own expense. This is part of the very definition of pro bono work, and it is false for Mr. Stimson to suggest otherwise.
The pro bono work we have undertaken for the Guantanamo detainees is part of the tradition of American lawyers. It is part of the same tradition that led John Adams to defend the British soldiers who were on trial for their lives in the Boston Massacre case, and that today leads lawyers to provide pro bono representation to indigent death row inmates, who also stand accused of heinous crimes. It is the availability of a legal defense to each person in official custody, no matter how unpopular, that helps keep us all free. I believe that the American people as a whole understand this fully, and I regret that a key government official does not.
I thank and congratulate our colleagues who have devoted their time and efforts to this important work.
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