Washington, DC (May 13, 2008) -- The Department of Defense announced today that they have charged and referred for trial five “high value” Guantanamo detainees, who are facing death penalty proceedings before military commissions. Yet death penalty-qualified civilian lawyers from the John Adams Project, a joint effort of the ACLU and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) remain entangled in bureaucratic red tape.
“NACDL’s capital defense teams are still awaiting the security clearances and final military approval they need before they will be allowed to deploy to Guantanamo,” said NACDL Executive Director Norman Reimer. “We need DOD to clear the decks of all bureaucratic hurdles so that that the accused will have access to the vital services to which all capital defendants are entitled under our system of government.”
Visit the John Adams Project website.
Contacts
NACDL Communications Department
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal legal system.
