Experts can discuss issues surrounding detainees at Guantanamo Bay

Arguments began today (4/20) before the U.S. Supreme Court about whether it is lawful to hold detainees indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, without allowing them access to American courts. The following are The Ohio State University experts who can discuss various aspects of the issue.

• Mary Ellen O\'Connell, professor of law in the Moritz College of Law and an associate at the Mershon Center for the Study of International Security and Public Policy, is an expert in the area of international law and international dispute resolution. She can address the Bush Administration’s “enemy combatant” case under the Geneva Conventions and other relevant international laws. She can be reached at (614) 292-8759.

• Mark Jacobson, a visiting scholar at the Mershon Center, is an expert on the detainees now being held at Guantanamo Bay as a result of the war on terrorism. He formerly worked as a special assistant at the Office of the Secretary of Defense and helped to develop the policy on detention of the people held at Guantanamo Bay. He can be reached at (703) 967-7380.

• John Quigley, professor of law at the Moritz College of Law, is an expert on international human rights. He can discuss the issue of whether the federal government can incarcerate an individual and declare the person to be in a category over which the courts have no power. He can be reached at (614) 292-1764.

• Peter Shane, professor of law in the Moritz College of Law and director of the Center for Law, Policy and Social Science, can address the scope of presidential domestic authorities during wartime. He is an expert in the areas of separation of powers law, electronic democracy, and law and the presidency. He can be reached at (614) 688-3014.