Free Republic

Two weeks after a conservative group disparaged Justice Department lawyers who previously represented terror suspects, Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday weighed in for the first time, calling such lawyers "patriots." “Those who reaffirm our nation’s most essential and enduring values do not deserve to have their own values questioned,” Holder told a group of lawyers who offer "pro bono," or voluntary, legal services. "Let me be clear about this: Lawyers who provide counsel for the unpopular are, and should be treated as what they are: patriots." The crowd, gathered to honor Holder with an award from the Washington-based Pro...

Following a two-week absence, the Fort Hood attorney was back at it Friday despite a gag order, blogging on the perceived injustices suffered by his defense team in defending Major Nidal Hasan, the man charged in the shooting deaths of 13 people. Galligan was put under partial gag order, but is adamant that his public comments don’t violate any ethical or legal rules. In the latest post, he argues that his client was denied a “mitigation expert” — a key part of defending someone charged with a capital crime. Galligan explained that in order to push for the death penalty,...

During the Iran-Contra hearings of 1985, Americans were treated to brilliant National Security Advisor John Poindexter. Although everyone who had ever spent time with Poindexter agreed that he had a computer-like memory, he answered the same way to seemingly every question put to him by the boozy likes of Senator Ted Kennedy. "I don't recall," could have been Poindexter's nickname, and it was likely untrue. Later, in 1991 Poindexter was convicted for, among other things, obstruction of justice and perjury. Later, these convictions were overturned. At least Poindexter was a senior naval officer who was acting in the interests of...

War On Terror: The Justice Department employs nine lawyers previously involved in the defense of terrorist detainees. This is a colossal conflict of interest. Just whose side are they on? From the dropping of a voter-intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party to the decision to try 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Muhammed in a civilian court within blocks of where the World Trade Center once stood, the actions and attitudes of the Justice Department and Attorney General Eric Holder toward the thugs and terrorists who threaten us has grown curiouser and curiouser. We may now have a clue as...

An Alabama college professor accused of killing three colleagues during a faculty meeting is likely insane, and she can't remember the shootings, her attorney said. Roy W. Miller, the court-appointed attorney for Amy Bishop, told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday that his client has severe mental problems that appear to be paranoid schizophrenia. Miller discussed the case hours after hundreds of mourners attended the first funeral and memorial services for Bishop's slain co-workers.