Several law school deans in the Boston area, including Boston University School of Law dean Maureen O’Rourke and Northeastern University’s Emily Spieler, spoke out against controversial remarks a Pentagon official made last week criticizing lawyers who defend detainees at U.S. military prison Guantanamo Bay.
Law deans criticized comments made by Detainee Affairs Assistant Defense Secretary Charles Stimson in an interview with Federal News Radio in which he suggested corporations should boycott law firms volunteering to defend the detainees, assuming they would not want to be represented by the same firms representing accused terrorists.
Spieler and Yale University Law School dean Harold Koh co-authored a letter signed by deans from more than 100 law schools — including Harvard University, Boston College and Suffolk University — labeling his words “irresponsible.” The letter, circulated last weekend, said Stimson’s remarks attacked the bedrock of the legal system.
“Our American legal tradition has honored lawyers who, despite their personal beliefs, have zealously represented mass murders, suspected terrorists, and Nazi marchers,” they wrote.
The deans stressed that prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay should be offered “effective representation” by qualified lawyers.
In an interview with The Daily Free Press, Spieler said she was appalled by Stimson’s remarks.
“I don’t know what was going through his mind when he said what he did,” she said.
Stimson apologized for his remarks Wednesday and said, “I believe firmly that a foundational principle of our legal system is that the system works best when both sides are represented by competent legal counsel,” according to a Jan. 17 Associated Press article.
Spieler said she worries Stimson’s comments could create a “chilling effect” in the legal community, discouraging lawyers to take on difficult or controversial cases.
“If lawyers feel that their actions will be condemned by a higher authority, they may stray away from giving people their legally given right of the best representation possible,” Spieler said. “The idea of a lawyer backing down from doing his job because of what people will say should not happen.”
O’Rourke said lawyers cannot be held accountable for defendants’ crimes to feel comfortable representing them effectively.
“The American Bar Association makes it very clear in its rules of professional conduct,” she said.
“By providing the detainees with the most effective defense,” O’Rourke added, “we both reinforce our own longstanding traditions and values and show the world that we believe in the integrity of our justice system.”
O’Rourke said the constitutional right to a fair trial should be preserved despite alleged national security threats posed by the detainees.
“I think we all understand that we are in difficult and trying times, and that we are still struggling to find the right balance between security and freedom,” she said. “But what an irony it would be if the price of winning the war on terror were to be our own constitutional values.”
National Lawyer’s Guild Executive Vice President Judy Somberg said lawyers have a responsibility to represent those who need them.
“To imply that there is something devious in what these attorneys are doing is just wrong,” she said.
Though Stimson released a statement apologizing for his comments, Somberg said the damage has already been done, especially for the lawyers whose firms are currently representing detainees.
“To think that this won’t affect the way companies view them or their firm is mistaken,” she said.
However, Somberg said there was an positive side to the controversy.
“For once in this profession, almost everyone is on the same side,” she said. “We are all so used to arguing against each other, it is good to see everyone come to an agreement and defend the rights we have.”