Susan J. Crawford

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Susan J. Crawford is an American lawyer, who was appointed the convening authority for the Guantanamo military commissions, on February 7, 2007.[1] Secretary of Defense Robert Gates appointed Crawford to replace John D. Altenburg.[2]. She had previously served as Judge of United States Court of Appeals for the Amerd Forces, Inspector General of the Department of Defense (appointed by George H. W. Bush).[3], General Counsel for the Department of the Army (appointed by Ronald Reagan)[4] and Assistant State's Attorney for Garrett County, Maryland.

Contents

[edit] Education

[edit] Negotiated Hick's plea bargain

Crawford is reported to have directly negotiated David Hicks's plea bargain, without any input from the Prosecution.[7]

[edit] Guantanamo discussion

When speaking at Bucknell University on April 27, 2007 Crawford said[8]

“Much of the media coverage and commentary has been negative, questioning our legal authority to hold detainees without a trial in U.S. Federal Courts,” Crawford said. “Under the law of war, the detainees at Guantanamo Bay are not held pending criminal charges. While detainees may be tried for violations of the law of war, there is no obligation to so charge them.”

During the same presentation, Crawford also said:

"One of the biggest problems at Guantanamo is that the detainees gain too much weight because we feed them so well." In response to a question as to whether she endorses the practice of extraordinary rendition and the CIA's kidnapping of foreign citizen's in other countries, Crawford said: "Well, I don't think we always have the right to kidnap foreign citizens."[9]

On October 10, 2007 Morris D. Davis, the Chief Prosecutor for Office of Military Commissions at Guantanamo Bay Cuba, resigned in protest concluding that[10]:

"...full, fair and open trials were not possible under the current system. I resigned on that day because I felt that the system had become deeply politicized and that I could no longer do my job effectively or responsibly."

Morris directly cited Susan Crawford as a cause of the problems in the Military Commissions process through her mixing of convening authority and prosecutor roles and her unnecessary use of closed door hearings.[10] Morris called for removal of political appointees Susan Crawford and William J. Haynes and return of control to uniformed military authorities in order to restore openness and fairness to the Military Commissions process.

[edit] References

  1. ^ . Seasoned Judge Tapped to Head Detainee Trials. Department of Defense. (February 7, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-06-01.
  2. ^ AWOL military justice. Los Angeles Times. (December 10, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-10.
  3. ^ John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project [online]. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California (hosted), Gerhard Peters (database) available at http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=17781)
  4. ^ 1989 Alumni Association “Achievement in Chosen Profession” Award - http://www.bucknell.edu/x12875.xml
  5. ^ Susan Crawford. Department of Defense.. Retrieved on 2007-06-01.
  6. ^ Crawford to speak at Bucknell. Bucknell University (April 2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
  7. ^ Australian Gitmo detainee sentenced. USA Today (March 30, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
  8. ^ Sophia Leong. "Judge Crawford discusses detainee controversy", The Bucknellian, April 27, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-30. 
  9. ^ Written notes taken during Crawford's presentation. E-mail dantesvalley@yahoo.com for more information.
  10. ^ a b AWOL military justice. Los Angeles Times (December 10, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-10.

[edit] External links

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