Charles Stimson was soooo certain that corporate CEO's would be appalled by their lawyers' pro bono work on behalf of Guantanamo detainees. However, it now seems that those men and women are not as ignorant of the importance of the right to counsel as he is himself:
“Pro bono service and the rule of law are great traditions in the American legal profession, and we at GE have no intention of — and strongly disagree with the suggestion of in any way — discriminating against law firms that represent us on the basis of the pro bono, charitable, or public service that the lawyers in those firms choose to engage in,” Brackett Denniston, senior vice president and general counsel at General Electric, said in a statement. Jenner & Block and Covington, two firms involved in representing detainees, have done legal work for GE.
GE’s not alone in its position.
“I intend to continue to use the firms that regularly represent us. The fact that they engage in pro bono work or work for other clients that I don’t necessarily agree with doesn’t affect my decision,” says William Barr, general counsel of Verizon Communications and former attorney general under President George H.W. Bush. Debevoise & Plimpton and WilmerHale have both represented Verizon and are active in representing detainees.
LegalTimes.com tells who the good guys are:
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As Davkd Kurtz notes, Mr. Stimson remains on the job. Why is that? When they're through investigating the urgent matter of titties on the internet, the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who, you know, actually care about the Constitution and stuff, might want to ask Alberto "Gitmo" Gonzales that. Some other questions I'd like to see asked: Was Charles Stimson disciplined in any way for his comments? Is there a letter in his personnel file about this? Has he been demoted? Other than the so-called apology published in the Washington Post, has he written other memoranda to his superiors expressing regret? Did his comments reflect the Attorney General's--or the President's--personal beliefs?
More on Charles Stimson:
Charles Stimson Hates America
Charles Stimson Hates Apologizing
Charles Stimson Hates Korematsu
Charles Stimaon Hates His Profession
Charles Stimson Hates Resigning
Charles Stimson Hates Democracy
Charles Stimson Hates Being Alone
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