Republican Judge Takes Aim at Bush Terror Policies

Republican Judge Takes Aim at Bush Terror Policies: "Republican Judge Takes Aim at Bush Terror Policies
by Gail Appleson


NEW YORK - Far from the typical corporate Christmas card, a former U.S. federal judge's law firm is embracing controversy with holiday cards showing the historic Supreme Court session where he sucessfully challenged the Bush administration's treatment of Guantanamo Bay detainees.


John Gibbons
Even more unusually, the attorney who argued the case before the nation's highest court is a Republican and former federal appeals judge appointed by President Richard Nixon.

'Human rights issues are not Republican or Democratic issues,' said John Gibbons, whose arguments led to the Supreme Court's landmark June ruling that foreign terror suspects held at the U.S. naval base in Cuba can have access to U.S. courts.

Gibbons, a former chief judge of the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, told Reuters that he has never heard criticism of his fight for detainee rights from other lawyers, regardless of their party affiliation.

'I don't know any organized bar group that has taken the position that the government is right. I think most lawyers probably think the government has gone crazy,' he said.

Certainly this soft-spoken former jurist, who takes long thoughtful pauses before answering questions, is no rabble-rouser. Gibbons is a devoutly religious man of conviction, his colleagues say, who time and again has put himself on the line when he thinks a wrong needs righting.

The strong human interest views held by Gibbons and his Newark, N.J.-based corporate law firm Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione have led the former judge and his colleagues, who usually handle business matters, to become involved in a range of controversial cases.

These have led the lawyers to take on such causes as fighting for the rights of sex offenders and challenging death penalty sentences.

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MoveOn.org: Tsunami Relief

MoveOn.org: Tsunami Relief: "Dear friend,

The tsunami in southern Asia and Africa may be the worst natural disaster of our time. More than 116,000 lives were wiped out within hours.

Rising to this challenge is at the heart of global leadership, and the world is depending on us. The U.S government can lead billions of dollars of aid into this relief effort, if it chooses. Americans are generous and ready to step forward, but the U.S. Congress and the Bush administration have made a weak initial contribution to the effort -- first offering $15 million and then $35 million when they came under pressure. Clearly, we can do more.

Let Congress and the President know that Americans are supporting strong leadership on this relief effort, at:

http://www.moveon.org/tsunamirelief/

Thanks."

2004: THINGS TO FORGET

By Arianna Huffington

While so many year-end publications focus on what we should remember about the year now grinding to a close, I'd like to continue this column's contrarian tradition of pointing out the things we'd all be better off never having cross our minds again.

Here then is a list of all the things I'd like to forget, circa 2004:

Bernard Kerik's nanny. Bernard Kerik's Ground Zero love nest. Bernard Kerik.

That the woman who dismissed a presidential briefing entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." as a "historical" document is going to be our next secretary of state.

That a man who finds the Geneva Conventions "quaint" is going to be our next attorney general.

Janet Jackson's briefly exposed right boob.

That it took 14 months and public protests from the victims' families before the president OK'd the 9/11 Commission, but only two weeks before the first hearings were held on Janet Jackson's boob.

That the media thought "Don't be economic girlie men" was a great line.

Scott Peterson's love of golf. And that his lawyers thought it was a reason he shouldn't be sentenced to death.

Paris Hilton's new perfume. Paris Hilton's new album. Paris Hilton's new book. Paris Hilton.

"Surviving Christmas," "Jersey Girl," J-Lo: Ben Affleck goes 0-for-2004.

Madrid, Spain, March 11, 2004.

Beslan, Russia, Sept. 3, 2004.

That the Federal budget deficit hit $413 billion this year, and two-thirds of it is the result of Bush's tax cuts.

That Dick Cheney is talking about another round of tax cuts.

What Colin Powell did to his credibility. "You break it, you live with it for the rest of your life."

"I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it."

That picture of Lynndie England holding the leash.

The way the administration tried to sweep Abu Ghraib under the rug.

William Hung, recording artist.

Ashlee Simpson, lip synch artist.

Bob Dylan, lingerie salesman.

That George Tenet, who knew that the intel on Iraqi WMD was thinner than Lara Flynn Boyle on Dexatrim, turned into the Dick Vitale of WMD: "It's a slam dunk, baby!"

That George Tenet was subsequently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

That a 10-year-old grilled cheese sandwich allegedly bearing the likeness of the Virgin Mary sold for $28,000 on eBay.

The 10,000 Web remixes incorporating The Dean Scream.

That of the roughly 550 enemy combatants held captive in Guantanamo Bay, only four have been formally charged.

The Pistons/Pacers basketbrawl.

The looks on George and Laura Bush's faces when Dr. Phil asked them about the "epidemic levels of oral sex" in America's middle schools.

That Osama is still on the loose — and releasing tapes.

That the Kyoto Protocol was ratified — and we aren't part of it.

That Ken Lay has still not gone to trial or served a minute in jail.

That 35.9 million Americans live below the poverty line — 12.9 million of them children.

That 42 percent of Americans still think Saddam Hussein was "directly involved in planning, financing or carrying out" the 9/11 attacks.

That, thanks to presidential cutbacks, we actually have fewer police and first responders on the streets today than we had on 9/11.

Star Jones' wedding.

The Movie Multiplex from Hell: "Alexander," "My Baby's Daddy," "Thunderbirds," "Sleepover," "Around the World in 80 Days."

The iPod Party Mix from Hell: Jessica Simpson's "Take My Breath Away," William Hung's "She Bangs," Britney Spears' "Toxic," Britney Spears' "My Prerogative," Britney Spears' "I've Just Begun Having My Fun."

That Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld couldn't find time to personally sign letters of condolence to the families of troops killed in Iraq.

That Deputy Defense Secretary Wolfowitz couldn't remember the number of soldiers who'd lost their lives in Iraq.

Drilling for oil in ANWR (I've been desperately trying to forget this one since 2001, but the White House just won't let me!).