Free Republic

According to Robertson, the legal question at hand when considering the situation of terrorist detainees is when that detainee was considered “part of al-Qaida.” In this case, while “[t]he evidence does show that he provided some support to al-Qaida, or to people he knew to be al-Qaida,” Robertson noted that “[s]uch support was sporadic … and, at the time of his capture, non-existent.” Here’s the important part, as it relates to the ongoing prosecution of the newly-acronymed operation formely known as the Global War on Terror as a routine criminal exercise. According to Robertson, the government’s attempts to prove Salahi’s...

WASHINGTON — A suspected Al Qaeda organizer once called "the highest value detainee" at Guantanamo Bay was ordered released by a federal judge in an order issued Monday. Mohamedou Ould Slahi was accused in the 9/11 Commission report of helping recruit Mohammed Atta and other members of the Al Qaeda cell in Hamburg, Germany, that took part in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Military prosecutors suspected Slahi of links to other Al Qaeda operations, and considered seeking the death penalty against him while preparing possible charges in 2003 and 2004.

On March 25th, Clinton-appointed Judge James Robertson (U.S. District Court), after having threatened to impose financial sanctions on John D. Hemenway for having enjoined the Berg lawsuit to force President Obama to release his birth records to prove his citizenship, backed down. Instead of financial penalties, the Judge issued a reprimand tinged with flippancy. Judge Robertson reconsidered his previous sanctions threat, possibly fearing monetary sanctions might spark a backlash and give a boost to the grassroots effort to force Mr. Obama to relinquish his records for public scrutiny. While the Judge gives passing tribute to Hemenway's long career of public...

The BOPAC Report: Dr. Orly Taitz has posted a very troubling post about an assault on the right of every American to have an opinion and voice it. It seems that Obama is not only controlling media criticism but also wants the thought police to knock on doors. Let's see "Free Speech" under Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, the Taliban, Iran and the United States - it's getting harder to tell the difference. Congress needs to stand up for voices of dissension!

WASHINGTON -- Federal District Judge James Robertson, who resigned from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) court in protest over secret wiretaps ordered by President Bush, is regarded in Washington legal circles as one of President Bill Clinton's most liberal and partisan judicial appointments. Robertson, 67, has ruled consistently against the Bush administration's handling of enemy combatants. On July 15 this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reversed his 2004 ruling that a military commission could not try alleged terrorist Salim Ahmed Hamdan. In private Washington practice before going on the court, Robertson was an aggressive...

Clinton Appoints 8 to Federal Bench Sept. 14, 1994 President Clinton nominated ...James Robertson for the District of Columbia; James Robertson, 56, has been a partner at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington, D.C. since 1973, where he specializes in commercial and general civil litigation. From 1969 to 1972, Robertson served first as Chief Counsel for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Jackson, Mississippi, and then as National Executive Director of the Lawyers Committee. Robertson recently completed a term as the President of the District of Columbia Bar Association. Robertson earned an A.B. degree from Princeton University...