User:Geo Swan/Guantanamo/ready/Joshua L. Dratel 2

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.


The article on Joshua L. Dratel was one of several all nominated essentially at once. After the nomination I expanded this article. I honestly believe that some of those who weighed in on the {{afd}} did not attend to the expansion.

I thought Dratel's authorship of two significant books would be sufficient to preserve the article. But an administrator concluded that the consensus of the discussion was for deletion.

I believe Dratel is clearly worth covering, as these references show

2001

2002

2003

  • In April 2003 law students at the City University of New York triggered a dispute with the law school's Dean, for choosing to give Lynne Stewart for an annual award.[5] The New York Times chose to quote Dratel, who they described as "vice president of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers":

    It's sort of a bad lesson for the students. We teach students about the presumption of innocence, and yet the school does not appear to be implementing that.

  • In June 2003 Linda Greenhouse, writing in the New York Times, chose to quote Dratel's reaction to a Supreme Court ruling on whether suspects can be forced to consume sedatives and other psychoactive drugs during their trials.[6]
  • In July 2003 Dratel was interviewed on Fox News daytime, about Manuel Gehring, an accountant he represented, who was accused of kidnapping and murdering his children.[7]
  • In December 2003 the San Francisco Chronicle chose to quote Dratel on new relaxed FBI rules on warrants and witetaps[8]:

    "By eliminating any distinction between criminal and intelligence classifications, it reduces the respect for the ordinary constitutional protections that people have. It will result in a funneling of all cases into an intelligence mode. It's an end run around the Fourth Amendment."

2004

  • In July 2004 Dratel responded to DoD assertions on the Military Commissions, stating:

    The 'trust us' era is over.[9]

  • In August 2004 Dratel mounted a vigourous challenge to Peter Brownback and the other members of David Hick's first military commission.[10][11][12][13]
  • In September 2004, commenting on Hicks's decision not to attend his Combatant Status Review Tribunal, asserted[14]:

    "The only week we haven't been able to go down there (Guantanamo) in a year is the week they plan these proceedings. His refusal to attend should not be seen as a defiance. He only wanted to talk to his lawyers."

2005

2006

  • In 2006 a passing comment David Hicks made suggested that Hicks was entitled to apply for UK citizenship.[20][21]
  • Dratel defended Russell Tice a whistleblower from within the National Security Agency.[22]

    "They treat a whistle-blower like a virus which they basically surround with buffers in an attempt to marginalize, isolate and prevent from having an impact on an organization."

  • Dratel defended Lynne Stewart, an attorney for the "blind sheikh" Omar Abdel Rahman, who was convicted of a role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.[23] The Sheikh was alleged to have made statements that were the inspiration for the 1993 and other attacks. Stewart was convicted of smuggling out messages to the Sheikh followers. According to the New York Times Dratel[24]:

    ...filed motions to compel the government to disclose whether the National Security Agency recorded her or her lawyers by wiretapping without warrants.

  • Dratel was one of the lawyers who defended the ACLU when the Bush administration tried to clawback a document from them.[25]

2007

  • In February 2007 Dratel commented on Hicks's claim that Guantanamo guards had posted a 3 x 7 foot poster of Saddam Hussein's hanging.[26][27][28][29]

    "Displaying photos of condemned men to those who may be facing capital charges can only [be] interpreted as an attempt to intimidate and compel submission under a threat of death."

  • The Australian Broadcasting Corporation interviewed Dratel about the strange circumstances of David Hicks's guilty plea on March 27, 2007.[30][31][32][33][34][35][36] The Australian noted:

    Dratel's skewering of the commission process - highlighting the problem that rules for the commission were still to be promulgated by the US Defence Secretary, so he couldn't ethically sign a document binding him to the tribunal process - foreshadowed the difficulties the tribunal system will face in the months and years ahead.

  • In December 2007 Time magazine chose to quote Dratel in the Florida sleeper cell trials.[37]

2009

  • Dratel represented Anthony Casso, a mobster who confessed to fifteen murders, and who was convicted of a role in the theft of the large cache of drugs whose capture was fictionalized in the film The French Connection.[38]
  • Newsday quoted his opinion on "honest services fraud", characterizing him as a "Seasoned New York City attorney".[39]


2010

The paper "Portraits of Resistance: Lawyer responses to unjust proceedings" contained over three dozen references to Dratel on half a dozen pages.[40]

2011

The Chicago Tribune quoted Dratel on May 21 2011.[41]

"You have to have an intellectual curiosity about these kinds of cases There is a tremendous amount of reading. You have to know about history, about culture, about religion, about politics. It makes it fascinating in that way."
"The government is at a big advantage in these cases. They have agents and resources that are much more significant than in an ordinary case."

2012

2013

Defended Sabirhan Hasanoff.[42]

References

  1. ^ Alan Feuer (2001-02-15). "Bin Laden Pilot Says He Helped Buy Jet to Ship Missiles". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-18. During cross-examination, Joshua L. Dratel, one of Mr. El-Hage's lawyers, got Mr. Juma to admit that he had told federal agents investigating the case that his own brother, Sikander, had signed the lease for an apartment at 43 New Runda Estates in Nairobi where, prosecutors say, the bomb eventually used against the embassy in Kenya was built.
  2. ^ Dan Eggen (2002-11-19). "Broad U.S. Wiretap Powers Upheld: Secret Court Lifts Bar on Terror Suspect Surveillance". Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-03-18. Having found out that the fox has eaten half the chickens, the court has decided the fox should have more authority over the chicken coop with virtually no oversight," said Joshua L. Dratel, who argued against Ashcroft in a brief filed by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "When you start expanding authority like this to where there's no standards, all you increase are the number of innocent people who are surveilled unnecessarily.
  3. ^ Bob Egelko (2002-11-19). "Expanded wiretaps OKd: Review court frees prosecutors, agents to mesh anti-terror actions". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-03-18. The ruling "rolled back 25 years of precedent as to the proper boundaries between criminal investigation and foreign intelligence surveillance," said Joshua Dratel, who worked on written arguments in the case for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
  4. ^ Lyle Denniston (2002-11-20). "Secret court gives government snoopers green light to go down to the wire". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  5. ^ Robert F. Worth (2003-04-26). "Dean Says, 'I Object,' to CUNY Law Students". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-18. It's sort of a bad lesson for the students," said Joshua L. Dratel, the vice president of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, who has worked on terrorism cases. "We teach students about the presumption of innocence, and yet the school does not appear to be implementing that.
  6. ^ Linda Greenhouse (2003-06-17). "Justices restrict forced medication preceding a trial". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-18. 'It is widely underappreciated that the defendant has a right to be functional at his trial,' Mr. Dratel said. He explained that medications that interfere with alertness or that cause headaches, rashes, or other distracting problems can compromise the ability of defendants, even those who are technically competent to stand trial, to help their lawyers and to make a favorable impression before the jury.
  7. ^ "Missing". Fox News. 2003-07-15. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  8. ^ Dan Eggen (2003-12-13). "New rules make FBI spy agency Criminal, intelligence agents work side by side in terror cases". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-03-18. By eliminating any distinction between criminal and intelligence classifications, it reduces the respect for the ordinary constitutional protections that people have," said Joshua Dratel, a New York lawyer who has filed legal briefs opposing government anti-terrorism policies. "It will result in a funneling of all cases into an intelligence mode. It's an end run around the Fourth Amendment," which protects citizens from unreasonable searches, he said.
  9. ^ John Hendren (2004-07-01). "Detainees may be moved to U.S." Seattle Post Intelligencer. Retrieved 2009-03-18. "The 'trust us' era is over," said Joshua Dratel, a New York attorney who is representing Australian detainee David Hicks, one of three detainees who was referred Tuesday to the first military commission proceedings to be held since World War II.
  10. ^ Neil A. Lewis (2004-08-26). "Australian Pleads Not Guilty to Terrorism Conspiracy". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-18. Mr. Hicks's chief lawyer, Joshua Dratel of New York, wasted little time in attacking the credibility and fitness of some of the five officers on the military panel that will act as judge and jury in the case. Like the defense lawyer for the first detainee whose case began Tuesday, Mr. Hicks's lawyers bore in especially on the qualifications of the presiding officer and the only lawyer on the panel, Col. Peter E. Brownback III.
  11. ^ "Australian Gitmo Detainee Pleads Not Guilty". Fox News. 2004-08-25. Retrieved 2009-02-11. Joshua Dratel, David Hicks' lead civilian attorney, began the hearing by challenging the impartiality of the presiding officer, Army Col. Peter E. Brownback, a former military judge.
  12. ^ Scott Higham (2004-08-26). "Australian Pleads Not Guilty to War Crimes: Guantanamo Detainee's Trial Before Military Commission to Begin in January". Washington Post. p. A13. Retrieved 2009-03-18. Dratel focused much of his attention on Brownback, who was selected to be presiding officer by a close friend, retired Army Maj. Gen. John D. Altenburg Jr., chief of the military commissions. Dratel questioned Brownback's qualifications and suggested he was appointed to the post because of his personal connections.
  13. ^ Paisley Dodds (2004-08-26). "Australian detainee pleads not guilty". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2009-03-18. Dratel also questioned the impartiality of three other panel members and an alternate, and he argued that David Hicks should be considered a prisoner of war rather than an enemy combatant," a status used by the United States that provides fewer legal protections.
  14. ^ "Australian Guantanamo prisoner boycotts hearing". USA Today. 2004-09-22. Retrieved 2009-03-18. Hicks was advised that remarks made at the review hearing could be used against him at his military commission, or trial, in January, and defense attorneys were not allowed to attend, said Joshua Dratel, Hicks' civilian defense lawyer.
  15. ^ Richard B. Schmitt (2005-01-12). "Bush's New Nominee Is a Surprise". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-02-11. Among the potential choices, I think he is better than a politician, better than someone without experience in law enforcement, and better than a police officer," said Joshua L. Dratel, a New York defense lawyer who has represented a number of people targeted by the administration in terrorism cases. "He has a broad range of experience, and he is capable of an intellectual approach to problems.
  16. ^ Nick Fielding (2005-02-13). "Current affairs: The Torture Papers edited by Karen J Greenberg & Joshua L Dratel; Torture and Truth by Mark Danner; The Abu Ghraib Investigations by Steven Strasser". The Times. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  17. ^ Nick Grimm (2005-02-09). "Sacked lawyer 'right person for the job': Terry Hicks". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  18. ^ Viveca Novak (2005-10-30). "Mr. Fitzgerald Goes To Washington". Time magazine. Retrieved 2009-02-11. He comes off as sincere because he is," says New York attorney Joshua Dratel, who defended a man prosecuted by Fitzgerald in a 2001 terrorism case. "He very much believes in what he is doing.
  19. ^ Correy E. Stephenson (2005-11-21). "Eight trips to Guantanamo and counting, NYC lawyer Joshua Dratel specializes in terrorism Defense". Lawyers Weekly. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  20. ^ Leigh Sales (2006-04-13). "Hicks family, supporters welcome citizenship decision". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2009-03-18. I think it's clear that David is entitled to British citizenship and that there is no legitimate basis for denying or revoking that citizenship once he has it.
  21. ^ "Hicks citizenship ruling 'no guarantee'". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2006-04-13. Retrieved 2009-03-18. If the House of Lords either declines to take the appeal or upholds this particular decision, then the British Government has to make a decision whether they're going to treat David differently for whatever reason or they're going to treat him consistent with the Government's position throughout the entirety of the whole process of Guantanamo Bay - that it's a legal black hole.
  22. ^ "'They treat a whistle-blower like a virus'". USA Today. 2006-11-24. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  23. ^ Julia Preston (2006-10-17). "Lawyer, Facing 30 Years, Gets 28 Months, to Dismay of U.S." New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-18. One of Ms. Stewart's lawyers, Joshua L. Dratel, said the judge did not need to impose a severe sentence because "the message has been sent loud and clear" that Ms. Stewart committed serious mistakes and lapses of judgment in representing the sheik, as she acknowledged in recent weeks.
  24. ^ Julia Preston (2006-09-29). "Lawyer in Terror Case Apologizes for Violating Special Prison Rules". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  25. ^ "Government Backs Down in its Attempt to Seize "Secret" Document From ACLU". ACLU. 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  26. ^ Tom Allard (2007-02-02). "Hangman pictures on jail wall, says Hicks". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  27. ^ "Lawyer: Pictures of Hanged Saddam Shown to Guantanamo Bay Inmates". Fox News. 2007-02-01. Retrieved 2009-03-18. "This display is another vivid example of the coercive and dehumanising environment that exists at GTMO (Guantanamo)," Dratel and Hicks's Australian lawyer, Michael Griffin, wrote in a joint statement.
  28. ^ David S. Rohde (2007-02-02). "Poster of Hussein at Guantánamo Draws Detainee Complaints". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-18. I have no doubt that those were put up for a particular reason. For psychological warfare and for mental torture and intimidation.
  29. ^ Rob Taylor (2007-02-01). "Guantanamo inmates shown Saddam hanging photos: lawyer". Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-03-18. Dratel said photos of Saddam's 2006 trial were on an exercise yard poster, which also read: "Because Saddam chose not to co-operate and not tell the truth, because he thought by lying he would get released, for that reason he was executed."
  30. ^ Kerry O’Brien (2007-03-27). "Hicks pleads guilty". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  31. ^ Jennifer Daskal (2007-04-01). "This was a trial?". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2009-02-11. Next up was Joshua Dratel, chief defense counsel for Hicks for several years. He was also dismissed by the judge, because while he agreed to abide by all "existent" rules, he refused to agree to "all" rules for the tribunal without first knowing what those rules stated. "I'm shocked because I just lost another lawyer," said Hicks, and counsel number two left the courtroom.
  32. ^ Debbie Whitmount (2007-02-04). "Four Corners: Program transcript 2-3-2007". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  33. ^ Michael Rowland (2007-03-27). "Hicks pleads guilty to terrorist charges". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  34. ^ Josh White (2007-04-01). "Australian's Plea Deal Was Negotiated Without Prosecutors". Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-03-18. The plea agreement also set up what turned out to be irrelevant theatrics in the courtroom on Monday afternoon, when Hicks's two civilian attorneys challenged military commission rules and the presiding officer, Col. Ralph H. Kohlmann, removed them from the case. They each dramatically stormed out of the courtroom, leaving Hicks to give what appeared to be scripted answers about "losing" his attorneys and wanting fairness. Joshua Dratel, one of Hicks's attorneys who left, had signed the plea agreement and its specific parameters earlier in the day.
  35. ^ Amy Goodman (2007-03-29). "Prison torture should seal Gonzales' fate". Seattle Post Intelligencer. Retrieved 2009-03-18. Even in Hicks' brief moment in the controversial "trial," the government did what it could to strip him of what few rights they claim he has. The presiding military judge, Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann, dismissed his civilian lawyer, Joshua Dratel, and a Navy reservist attorney, Rebecca Snyder, who was assisting Hicks' government-appointed attorney. Hicks was stunned, and at first refused to plead. Hours later, after the trial was reconvened, he pleaded guilty to his one remaining charge. Having no hope for a fair trial, he reportedly believed that pleading guilty would allow him to serve his sentence in Australia -- his only hope of escaping Guantanamo.
  36. ^ Geoff Elliot (2007-03-31). "Sitting in the dock of the bay". The Australian. Retrieved 2009-03-18. Judge Ralph Kohlmann had just formally arraigned Hicks after three hours of courtroom drama in which Hicks's two civilian lawyers, Joshua Dratel and Rebecca Snyder, stormed out. Hicks was left with his military lawyer Major Michael Mori, a tireless campaigner for his client but whose courtroom style was clumsy and laboured compared with Dratel who, hours before, as if wielding a rapier, rapidly cut to the heart of the commission and exposed what he and many respected legal observers across the world say is a sham.
  37. ^ Amanda Ripley (2007-12-13). "Preemptive Terror Trials: Strike Two". Time magazine. Retrieved 2009-03-18. Are we interested in finding terrorists or creating them?" says Joshua Dratel, who has defended a number of suspects in other terrorism cases. "Even in cases where people are found guilty, I'm not sure that [this strategy] is necessarily finding people who are a genuine danger. What it's really doing is finding people who — with enough inducement and encouragement — may do something. But whether they would ever do anything on their own, we'll never know.
  38. ^ Ralph Blumenthal (2009-02-21). "Mobster Makes Offer on French Connection Case". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-18. "I think he got a raw deal," said Joshua L. Dratel, the latest of Mr. Casso's many lawyers. Mr. Dratel said Mr. Casso was "poor at playing the system" and threatened major cases by exposing Mr. Gravano and other government witnesses and federal agents as liars.
  39. ^ Dan Janison (2009-02-20). "Janison: Statute's elasticity sparks debate". Newsday. Retrieved 2009-03-18. For prosecutors, some experts say, "honest services fraud" can be as handy a tool as the very flexible charge of obstruction may be for a police officer. Seasoned New York City attorney Joshua Dratel calls it "part of an overcriminalization arsenal that federal prosecutors have."
  40. ^ Alexandra D. Lahav (2010). "Portraits of Resistance: Lawyer responses to unjust proceedings" (PDF). UCLA Law Review. p. 725. Retrieved 2011-09-29. Dratel had refused to sign a notice of appearance required by the judge in order to continue appearing on his client's behalf. This notice included a statement waiving the lawyer's right to contest any rules promulgated by the commission in the future, including rules promulgated for the first time during trial. Before the courtroom packed with government officials, human rights monitors, and journalists, Dratel told the court: "I cannot sign a document that provides a blank check on my ethical obligations as a lawyer . . . ." {{cite news}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 66 (help) mirror
  41. ^ Annie Sweeney (2011-05-21). "Rana trial to highlight new law specialty: Defending alleged terrorists". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2013-10-17. Dratel calls it "cutting-edge civil liberties work." As the government tries to protect the country from terrorist attacks, he and other attorneys are safeguarding the country's values, he contends. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  42. ^ Benjamin Weiser (2013-09-30). "Man Who Aided Al Qaeda Gets 18-Year Prison Sentence". New York Times. p. A20. Archived from the original on 2013-10-17. Retrieved 2013-10-17. His lawyer, Joshua L. Dratel, had asked for a 13-year sentence, arguing that Mr. Hasanoff, a dual citizen of the United States and Australia, had acknowledged his guilt, understood why his actions were wrong and had demonstrated remorse. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)