(WASHINGTON, D.C., 3/16/22) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization, today sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary urging members to praise, not attack U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s prior defense work on behalf of a Guantánamo Bay detainee. Next week, the Senate committee will begin Judge Jackson’s confirmation hearing.
Click Here: Read CAIR’s Letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee
On Monday, The Hill reported that several Republican members of the committee were likely to use Judge Jackson’s prior public defense work and private amicus briefs written on behalf of Guantánamo Bay detainees as a likely “line of attack.”
SEE: The Hill: GOP raises red flag on Supreme Court nominee’s Guantánamo work
In February, CAIR welcomed President Joe Biden’s historic nomination of federal appeals court Judge Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court. If confirmed, Judge Jackson would be the first African American woman to serve on the Court.
CAIR’s letter encouraged all members of the Senate committee during the confirmation to question Judge Jackson on her legal perspectives on issues related to civil rights, religious freedom, and the limits of presidential power, particularly in relation to immigration.
The letter also noted that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the George W. Bush administration opening the unconstitutional U.S. military detention camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. For twenty years, the U.S. government has illegally-operated a military detention camp that has indefinitely detained prisoners without charge or trial at Guantanamo, Cuba.
While 780 individuals have been detained at the Guantánamo Bay prison over the past 20 years, only 0.3% have been convicted, and the vast majority have been released.
The Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees every person under U.S. custody – including Guantanamo detainees – the right to legal counsel.
Sent by CAIR Director of Government Affairs Department Robert S. McCaw, the letter stated in part that:
“Judge Jackson’s work of providing legal counsel to a Guantánamo detainee was her professional responsibility as a public defender and follows in the long held American tradition of ensuring that every person charged with a crime in U.S. custody has the right to a fair and impartial trial, regardless of public sentiment.
“American patriot, founding father, and one day president John Adams was publicly vilified for his legal defense of the British soldiers accused of the Boston Massacre of 1770. Persevering through calls for mob justice and threats to his own personal safety, then attorney Adams secured the acquittal of the soldiers’ captain, not guilty verdicts for six of the soldiers, and the lesser verdict of manslaughter for two other soldiers.
“Remarking on his defense of these English soldiers, President Adams said it was ‘one of the best pieces of service I ever rendered my Country.’ Americans and the detainees at Guantánamo both deserve justice and a fair trial.
“Judge Jackson’s public defense work on behalf of a Guantánamo detainee, and her private amicus briefs in support of others, have been some of the best services that she has rendered our country.”
McCaw concluded the letter by encouraging: “all members of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary to consider Judge Jackson’s past work as a public defender and private citizen as a patriotic service to our nation.”
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com, CAIR National Communications Coordinator Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com