Curb sought on counsel to detainees (Boston Globe)

Curb sought on counsel to detainees
US asks court to restrict talks with lawyers

By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff | October 25, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The US government is seeking to sharply restrict communication
between defense lawyers and inmates at Guantanamo Bay prison, asserting that
some lawyers have given inmates "inflammatory" material such as reports of
abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and news articles about terrorist attacks.

The government is seeking judicial approval for new rules that would allow
defense lawyers only four visits with their clients, rather than the unlimited
number now permitted; control the topics that can be discussed in such meetings;
and restrict the types of information that can be exchanged between lawyers and
detainees through the mail.

The government filed the new rules in August with the federal appeals court in
Washington, D.C., which is currently reviewing them in connection with the case
of a Guantanamo detainee. If the court agrees to the limitations, they are
expected to be applied to future cases.

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The current rules, which were the result of tough negotiations between defense
lawyers and the government in 2004, require that attorneys obtain security
clearance before they see classified evidence in a case. But the proposed rules
state that in addition to security clearance, an attorney must "need to know"
the information that is being sought, a determination that is made by the US
government.

-snip-