Washington, DC, October 4, 2011 – Baker Hostetler is representing a group of all former secretaries of defense and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who support the U.S. Justice Department in opposing a civil lawsuit, filed in Chicago, against former Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld. A divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently ruled that the suit could proceed and the Justice Department has asked for reconsideration of that ruling by all of the court’s judges.
The plaintiffs, Donald Vance and Nathan Ertel, were held for several weeks in 2006 by U.S. military authorities in Iraq, after having worked for an Iraqi security company that the men claimed was secretly providing assistance to Iraqi insurgents. Plaintiffs allege they were abused by U.S. personnel during their detention and seek to hold former Secretary Rumsfeld personally responsible.
Vance and Ertel have sued Rumsfeld, and a number of other unnamed U.S. officials, for allegedly violating their rights. The Chicago-based 7th Circuit ruled that their claim could go forward based on a 1970s era Supreme Court case permitting damage suits against government officials personally in certain narrow circumstances.
Baker Hostetler has argued, on behalf of its amici clients, that this type of claim – known as a “Bivens” action – is foreclosed here because Vance and Ertel could have vindicated their rights through an elaborate and comprehensive military review system created by Congress and the military itself.
A recent Washington Post editorial supports Baker Hostetler’s merit arguments and specifically endorses the key argument made in the firm’s amicus brief by suggesting “the court overreaches by creating expansive new rights that are not supported by precedent and that would best be weighed by Congress.” The Supreme Court has said lawsuits like this should not proceed where there are “special factors counseling hesitation in the absence of affirmative action by Congress.” The editorial points out that “an active war zone and national security concerns certainly qualify as such factors.” Baker Hostetler is represented by David B. Rivkin, Jr., Litigation partner and co-chair of the appellate and major motions team, along with Partner Lee A. Casey and Associates Mark W. DeLaquil and Andrew M. Grossman.
###
About Baker Hostetler Founded in 1916, Baker Hostetler is among the nation's 100 largest law firms with more than 750 attorneys coast to coast, delivering the highest quality legal counsel on the most complex and critical issues facing clients today. The firm has offices in Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Costa Mesa, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando and Washington, D.C. Its five primary practice groups are Business, Employment, Intellectual Property, Litigation and Tax. For more information, visit www.bakerlaw.com
Contact: , Communications Manager, 216.861.6616