U.S. Government Appeals Court Decision to Allow U.S. Detainee Access to Counsel

On May 31, 2002 the U.S. Department of Justice filed an emergency appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to deter Yaser Esam Hamdi, 21, who was born in Louisiana and raised in Saudi Arabia, from meeting with his counsel. The U.S. is appealing an order of U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar that Mr. Hamdi has a constitutional right to meet with Federal Public Defender Frank W. Dunham, Jr. Judge Doumar concluded that ?fair play and fundamental justice? require that people jailed in the U.S. have access to counsel. Judge Doumar observed that the U.S. Government ?could not cite one case where a prisoner of any variety within the jurisdiction of a United States District court, who was held incommunicado and indefinitely, and who had filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, was denied access to an attorney or the right to file such a petition. The U.S. Government is arguing that permitting Mr. Hamdi access to counsel may destroy the relationship of trust and dependency between and the military, without which the military?s intelligence-gathering efforts may be undermined. Mr. Dunham contends that the U.S. Government has not provided any evidence that conferring with counsel would interfere with the interrogation.