Guantanamo lawyers claim US government eavesdropped on client meetings News
Guantanamo lawyers claim US government eavesdropped on client meetings

[JURIST] Lawyers for Guantanamo detainees claim that the US government of has eavesdropped on conversations with their clients [CCR press release], according to court papers filed Tuesday by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) [advocacy website]. The filing came as part of a 2007 Freedom of Information Act lawsuit [case materials; JURIST report] in which lawyers for Guantanamo detainees are seeking documents related to possible monitoring of attorney-client meetings. CCR said in a statement that "These attorneys believe they may have been targeted by the government’s warrantless wiretapping program that began shortly after September 11, 2001 because of their representation of Guantánamo prisoners labeled 'enemy combatants' by the government. "

The Justice Department refused to comment on the allegations Tuesday, but has said in a March filing that it could neither confirm nor deny that detainees' lawyers had been targets of such surveillance. The New York Times has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 signed into law

US President Millard Filmore signed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 on September 18 of that year, obliging law enforcement to arrest escaped slaves in all US states, including those where slavery was not legal. Free black men and women were endangered by the act's passage as they were at risk of being falsely identified as escaped slaves. The act heightened tensions between abolitionists in the North and slaveholders in the South, contributing to what would become the Civil War eleven years later. Learn more about the Fugitive Slave Act from the National Constitution Center.

Jurist Joseph Story born

On September 18, 1797, future US Supreme Court Justice, Harvard law professor, and legal author Joseph Story was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts. West Virginia University law professor James Elkins notes that Story was also a poet; learn more about Story and read a couple of his poems here.

Anti-Corn Law League created in UK

On September 18, 1838, the Anti-Corn Law League was created in the United Kingdom. As the name suggests, the purpose of the association was to press for the abolition of British Corn Laws, which were indeed repealed in 1846. After the repeal, the organization worked to oppose other protectionist measures in the UK. The weekly news publication, The Economist, was founded as part of the anti-corn law movement.

Jurist Joseph Story born

On September 18, 1797, future US Supreme Court Justice, Harvard law professor, and legal author Joseph Story was born at Marblehead, Massachusetts.

West Virginiia University law professor James Elkins notes that Story was also a poet - learn more about Story and read a couple of his poems here.