GN summer fall09 Digital.indd - National Lawyers Guild

National WorkNLG-SF Files Complaint Against Haynes with CaliforniaState BarYoo may be a professor in California and Bybee a judge,but William Haynes is the only one of the three who hasany connection with the California state bar. He is officially“registered in-house counsel”—a designation that allows himto practice law only for the corporation he works for and onlyin-house. He is not required to take the bar exam, but he mustfile an Application for Determination of Moral Character,complete Continuing Legal Education requirements, and otherwisefollow all the same rules that California lawyers mustfollow.While with the Department of Defense, Haynes wrote amemo for Donald Rumsfeld urging approval of a number ofinterrogation techniques at Guantanamo Bay including theuse of stress positions, forced nudity and extreme isolation.The memo was rescinded in less than two months due toobjections by military lawyers. Haynes continued to advocatevigorously for torture and inhumane interrogation techniques,ignoring objections from a number of other officials and forcinga working group of military lawyers to accept John Yoo’slegal work as controlling authority.We filed a complaint with the State Bar in March stating:“The State Bar must uphold ethics and the rule of law, andrepudiate Mr. Haynes’ actions that resulted in actual torture.”We asked for an investigation of Mr. Haynes, that his statusas “registered in-house counsel” be revoked or that he beotherwise disciplined. Our complaint was closed withoutprejudice but we have requested a review from the StateBar’s Audit and Review Unit.With the help of our partner organizations we alsolaunched a campaign to have others file their own complaints.Using a concise template, we encouraged others to sign andsend us their own complaints and as of July, we had collectednearly 150, which we are forwarding on to the State Bar.The various documents and other information onC.A.T.’s anti-torture work may be found at nlgsf.org/committees/againsttorture.php.As a single chapter in an organizationof legal professionals committed to human rights, we feel thiswork fits perfectly into our mission and is within our capabilities.We’re focusing on the lawyers living and workingin California. We’re lodging complaints with the state bar,at law schools, and with federal courts. Our hope is that thiswork will serve as a deterrent against torture and abuse ofpower in the future. □Fair Trade Certified TMOrganic ChocolateLocal New MexicoIngredientsWe can ship 3 or more bars to you!For more information: nmelc.org | 505.989.9022 | nmelc@nmelc.org▪ 9 ▪