Attorney Lawrence J. Morris is the chief of staff and counselor to the president at The Catholic University of America and a retired United States Army colonel. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Attorney Lawrence J. Morris is the chief of staff and counselor to the president at The Catholic University of America and a retired United States Army colonel. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Morris graduated from Marquette University's law school in 1982. [1] [6] Morris had previously earned a double major at Marquette in Political Science and Journalism.
In 1997 Lieutenant Colonel Morris served as the head of the Criminal Law department of the U.S. Army The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School, which has full American Bar Association accreditation for its post-juris-doctoral graduate course that confers a Master of Laws degree (or LLM) to its graduates. Like nearly all of his peers who are field grade Army officers on active duty as a judge advocate, Col. Morris holds an LLM in Military Law awarded by the Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School on the campus of the University of Virginia.
Morris also studied at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, where he earned a Master of Science in National Security Strategy. [1]
Morris has worked as an adjunct professor at several law schools, including the Catholic University School of Law. He is the author of Military Justice: A Guide to the Issues, a capstone book published in 2010, as well as articles and training publications frequently used by US military prosecutors and defenders.
During 2005-2006 Morris served as the Staff Judge Advocate to the Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point.
In early 2007 Morris was the Chief of the U.S. Army Trial Defense Service, where he was responsible for the work and professional training of all uniformed Army defense attorneys as they represented soldiers accused of crimes under the UCMJ. [5] He also served as a co-founder of the Law and Order Task Force in Iraq and received a Bronze Star for his service.
In the fall of 2007 Colonel Morris replaced Colonel Morris Davis as Chief Prosecutor of the Guantanamo military commissions. Davis resigned after a public disagreement with Brigadier General Thomas W. Hartmann, the Chief Legal Advisor to the Convening Authority for the Office of Military Commissions. Davis had publicly called for Hartmann to resign. [7]
In 2002, Morris was the head of the Army's criminal law branch and was tasked with planning the first prosecution of suspected 9/11 terrorists. According to the Wall Street Journal, back in 2002 "he proposed a high-profile public trial that would lay bare the scope of al Qaeda's alleged conspiracy while burnishing the ideals of American justice." His legal advice was disregarded by the Bush administration, which decided to interrogate terrorists in secret—perhaps to gain critical intelligence necessary—to prevent further attacks, rather than seek justice through high-profile trials. Morris was later asked to conduct the trials. [8]
The Toronto Star identified Morris as the Chief Prosecutor of the Guantanamo military commissions. [2] Michelle Shephard of the Star quoted Morris's comments about the accidental release of unredacted testimony from a witness known as OC-1, prior to a hearing where the legality of Omar Khadr combatant status was to be considered.
Excerpts from OC-1's secret testimony seemed to contradict the Prosecution's earlier account that Khadr had been the sole survivor of an aerial bombardment that mortally wounded Green Beret Sergeant Christopher Speer. [2] Morris commented:
We're confident that we'll prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt once we get to the courtroom. That document has been disclosed at least three times over the past couple of years to the defence so there was nothing new or surprising in it.
On 18 November 2008 Morris announced that he was filing new charges against Mohammed al Qahtani. [9] The Bush administration acknowledged subjecting Al Qahtani to 58 days of sleep deprivation and other extreme interrogation methods in the fall of 2002, when intelligence officials realized he had tried to travel to the United States in the months preceding al Qaeda's September 11 attacks. Morris's prosecution team had proposed charges against Al Qahtani to Susan Crawford in early 2008. Crawford, the convening authority of military commissions, has the final say over whether charges are confirmed. She dropped the charges against al Qahtani because his "treatment met the legal definition of torture". [10]
During his only testimony that has been made public—his testimony before his 2006 Administrative Review Board hearing—Al Qahtani acknowledged confessing to extensive ties to al Qaeda, and the 9-11 hijacking plot, but he claimed all his confessions were from the two months he was being tortured, and he had recanted them at every opportunity since then.
When announcing the new charges, Morris stated that the new charges were based on "independent and reliable evidence". [9] He stated: "His conduct is significant enough that he falls into the category of people who ought to be held accountable by being brought to trial."
Andy Worthington reported on May 6, 2009, that Morris was retiring from active duty and would be replaced as Chief Prosecutor by John Murphy, a captain in the United States Naval Reserve. The retirement ceremony and party were held on Friday, June 12, 2009. Morris officially retired on September 1, 2009. [11] After military retirement, Morris worked as a civilian attorney for the U.S. Army. He wrote an article for the United States Army Combined Arms Center's periodical Military Review in 2012: "An Asset Out of You and Me: Communicating What It Truly Means to be a Soldier." [12]
In 2011, Catholic University of America president John H. Garvey appointed Morris as the school's general counsel. [13] On 1 January 2018, he was appointed chief of staff and counselor to the president of the university, and was succeeded as general counsel by Nancy Morrison, a professor at Notre Dame Law School. [14]
Mohammed Mani Ahmad al-Qahtani is a Saudi citizen who was detained as an al-Qaeda operative for 20 years in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps in Cuba. Qahtani allegedly tried to enter the United States to take part in the September 11 attacks as the 20th hijacker and was due to be onboard United Airlines Flight 93 along with the four other hijackers. He was refused entry due to suspicions that he was trying to illegally immigrate. He was later captured in Afghanistan in the battle of Tora Bora in December 2001.
Omar Ahmed Said Khadr is a Canadian citizen who at the age of 15 was detained by the United States at Guantanamo Bay for ten years, during which he pleaded guilty to the murder of U.S. Army Sergeant 1st Class Christopher Speer and other charges. He later appealed his conviction, claiming that he falsely pleaded guilty so that he could return to Canada where he remained in custody for three additional years. Khadr sued the Canadian government for infringing his rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms; this lawsuit was settled in 2017 with a CA$10.5 million payment and an apology by the federal government.
Salim Ahmed Hamdan is a Yemeni man, captured during the invasion of Afghanistan, declared by the United States government to be an illegal enemy combatant and held as a detainee at Guantanamo Bay from 2002 to November 2008. He admits to being Osama bin Laden's personal driver and said he needed the money.
Jabran Said Bin Wazir al-Qahtani is a Saudi who was held in extrajudicial detention for almost fifteen years in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. Joint Task Force Guantanamo analysts estimate he was born in 1977, in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Peter E. Brownback III is a retired military officer and lawyer. He was appointed in 2004 by general John D. Altenburg as a Presiding Officer on the Guantanamo military commissions. The Washington Post reported: "...that Brownback and Altenburg have known each other since 1977, that Brownback's wife worked for Altenburg, and that Altenburg hosted Brownback's retirement party in 1999."
Robert L. Swann is an American lawyer and retired career Army colonel. He was the second Chief Prosecutor of the Military Commission at Guantanamo Bay detention camp, serving 2004 to 2006. He followed Fred Borch, who resigned in disgrace, and William Lietzau, acting Chief Prosecutor.
Colonel Frederic L. Borch is a career United States Army attorney with a master's degree in national security studies, who served as chief prosecutor of the Guantanamo military commissions. He resigned his commission in August 2005 after three prosecutors complained that he had rigged the system against providing due process to defendants. He was replaced by Robert L. Swann
Morris Durham "Moe" Davis is an American retired U.S. Air Force colonel, attorney, educator, politician, and former administrative law judge.
William "Bill" C. Kuebler was an American lawyer and a Commander in the United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps, assigned to the U.S. Navy Office of the Judge Advocate General, International and Operational Law Division. Kuebler was previously assigned to the Office of Military Commissions. Prior to the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, to overturn the then current version of the Guantanamo military commissions on constitutional grounds, Kuebler was detailed to defend Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi. Al Sharbi had insisted on representing himself and Kuebler refused superior orders to act as his lawyer.
Susan Jean Crawford is an American lawyer, who was appointed the Convening Authority for the Guantanamo military commissions, on February 7, 2007. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates appointed Crawford to replace John D. Altenburg.
Thomas W. Hartmann is an American lawyer and officer in the United States Air Force Reserve. He has 32 years of criminal, commercial and civil litigation experience. Between 1983 and 1991 he was a prosecutor and defense counsel in the Air Force, including duties as Chief Air Force Prosecutor in Asia-Pacific Region. From 1991 to 1996 he was an associate at Bryan Cave LLP and at SBC Communications. In 1996 he became senior counsel for mergers & acquisitions for SBC Communications closing multiple deals worth several billion dollars in U.S., Europe, and South America as well as negotiating a strategic partnering agreement with a global internet service provider. From 1998 onwards he was general counsel for SBC Communications (1999–2001), Orius Corp. (2001–2004) and MxEnergy Inc. (2005–2007) in domestic and international settings. In July 2007 Brigadier General Hartmann was appointed the legal adviser to the convening authority in the Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions. In September 2008, as a result of the expansion of the commission efforts that General Hartmann had led, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England elevated General Hartmann to become the director of operations, planning, and development for the commissions. Hartmann reported to Susan J. Crawford, a retired judge, who was the convening authority until March 2010.
Ralph Harold Kohlmann is an American lawyer and retired United States Marine Corps officer.
Patrick Parrish is an officer in the United States Army.
Captain Keith A. Petty is an American lawyer and officer in the United States Army. He is notable for being appointed to serve as one of the prosecutors on the Guantanamo military commissions, and has taken his arguments to the press.
David Frakt is an American lawyer, law professor, and officer in the United States Air Force Reserve.
The United States of America has charged Guantanamo captives before "Military Commissions", each presided over by a Presiding Officer.
Michael Chapman is an American lawyer, and former senior officer in the United States Army's Judge Advocate General corps, who was appointed the legal adviser to the Office of Military Commissions, in Guantanamo on September 19, 2008. According to the official press release that announced his appointment his previous appointments included being:
Colonel Peter Masciola served as the Chief Defense Counsel for the Office of Military Commissions in 2008 and 2009. He was appointed in the fall of 2008. Masciola was President of the Judge Advocate Association in 2001–2002.
The Military Commissions Act of 2009, which amended the Military Commissions Act of 2006, was passed to address concerns by the United States Supreme Court. In Boumediene v. Bush (2008) the court had ruled that the Military Commissions Act of 2006 was unconstitutional in suspending the right of detainees to habeas corpus. The court ruled that detainees had the right to access US federal courts to challenge their detentions.
Mark Steven Martins is a retired United States Army officer. He attained the rank of brigadier general in the United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps. Martin's final position was Chief Prosecutor of Military Commissions, overseeing the trial of Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four co-defendants.
Military Commissions Chief Prosecutor Army Col. Lawrence Morris, said he was pleased with the presentation of evidence by the government, as well as by Hamdan's counsel. He stated that a favorable ruling for the prosecution in this case will resolve a major legal issue that could otherwise impede the military commissions' process. 'Our best hope and expectation is to find lawful jurisdiction in this case. This will also open the path to trials in other cases,' said Morris.[ dead link ]