Litigation

Former Gitmo Prosecutor Writes, Loses New U.S. Job

By Peter Hardin

A former chief prosecutor of the U.S. military commissions at Guantanamo Bay has lost his job as a congressional researcher over some controversial pieces he wrote in a personal capacity, according to an article in Huffington Post.

Morris Davis, a retired Air Force colonel, lost his job at the Congressional Research Service. He was notified recently that the CRS would not continue to employ him after his one-year probationary period concludes December 21, author Andy Worthington wrote for Huffington Post.

Davis wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal about the Obama administration’s decision to try some terror suspects from Guantanamo in federal court and others before military commissions, and Davis called that decision “a mistake.” “It will establish a dangerous legal double standard that gives some detainees superior rights and protections, and relegates others to the inferior rights and protections of military commissions,” Davis wrote.

Separately Davis wrote a letter to the Washington Post that was critical of former Attorney General Michael Mukasey for “scaremongering” about the decision to try some Guantanamo detainees in federal court, according to Worthington.

Davis has protested that he is head of a CRS research division that does not advise Congress on military commissions, and that he believed he could express opinions publicly on topics that weren’t part of his official duties. The American Civil Liberties Union has written the Librarian of Congress, maintaining Davis’ First Amendment rights were violated and he should be reinstated. You can read more in Gavel Grab about debate over venues for trying Guantanamo detainees.

Full post as published by The Gavel on December 09, 2009 (boomark / email).