Chicago Attorneys urge President Obama to release 86 uncharged Guantánamo detainees
On July 25, 2013 a coalition of Chicago lawyers issued an open letter to President Obama, urging him to release the 86 detainees at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp who have been cleared since 2010 for release by the President’s own Guantánamo Review Task Force, consisting of various agencies including the CIA and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. These men are in their twelfth year of imprisonment without a charge, and it is squarely within the President’s authority to instruct the Justice Department to consent to issuance of writs of habeas corpus. The letter applauds President Obama for some action he’s taken, for example, reopening the Office for the Closure of Guantánamo, but criticizes the President for allowing the Justice Department to fight the release of these prisoners. The letter is signed by many members of the Chicago legal community, including former U.S. Attorney, Thomas P. Sullivan and members of the Chicago Council of Lawyers’ Civil Liberties Committee. It can be accessed here.