Kafka Comes to America
Author: Steven T Wax
“OUR GOVERNMENT CAN MAKE YOU DISAPPEAR.”
Those were words Steven T. Wax never imagined he would hear himself say. In his thirty-four years as a lawyer, Wax didn’t have to warn a client that he or she might be taken away to a military brig, or worse, a “black site,” one of our country’s dreaded secret prisons. So how had we come to this? The disappearance of people happens in places ruled by tyrants, military juntas, fascist strongmen–governments with such contempt for the rule of law that they strip their citizens of all rights. But in America?
Under the Bush administration, not only have the civil rights of foreigners been in jeopardy, but also those of U.S. citizens. In Kafka Comes to America, Wax interweaves the stories of two men he represented who were caught up in our government’s post-9/11 counterterrorism measures. Brandon Mayfield, an American-born, small-town lawyer and family man, was arrested as a terrorist suspect in the Madrid train station bombings after a fingerprint was mistakenly traced back to him by the FBI. Adel Hamad, a Sudanese hospital administrator working in Pakistan, was taken from his apartment and flown in chains to the United States military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for no substantiated reason. Kafka Comes to America reveals where and how our civil liberties have been eroded in favor of a false security, and how each of us can make a difference. If these events could happen to Brandon Mayfield and Adel Hamad, they could happen to anyone. They could happen to you.
Publishers Weekly
Federal public defender Wax masterfully delivers a harrowing story of the erosion of civil liberties after the September 11 terrorist attacks in a powerful testimony that reads like a thriller. Wax follows the stories of two men he represented, both victims of post-9/11 counterterrorism measures. The first-American citizen and fellow lawyer Brandon Mayfield-was arrested by the FBI as a suspect in the Madrid train station bombings in 2004, after the FBI claimed that a latent fingerprint found on the scene matched Mayfield's. The second story revolves around Adel Hamad, a Sudanese-born hospital administrator arrested in Pakistan while doing refugee relief work. Imprisoned for six months in "a fetid hell" for alleged connections with al-Qaeda, Hamad was hooded and shackled and transferred to Guantánamo Bay, where he has languished for the past four years. With considerable finesse, the author narrates these two gripping stories in alternating chapters through each stage of his clients' cases. Wax offers personal insight and professional outrage; his is a powerful voice that deserves to reach all Americans. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Kirkus Reviews
Oregon Federal Public Defender Wax describes the obstacles faced by lawyers representing people accused of terrorist activities. Those interested in an inside account of how attorneys represent unpopular clients will learn a great deal from the behind-the-scenes strategy sessions detailed here. Both of Wax's clients, Oregon lawyer and Islam convert Brandon Mayfield and Sudanese hospital administrator Adele Hassan Amad, were eventually released and the charges against them dropped, but not before they had their privacy violated. Mayfield, who had defended someone convicted of terrorist activities, was arrested as a suspect in the 2004 Madrid bombings because the FBI misidentified his fingerprints. Amad, accused of associating with terrorists, was imprisoned at Guantanamo, where he was frequently interrogated and beaten, although the U.S. government declined to reveal why he was a suspect. Descriptions of the judicial wrangling and the impact of the procedures on the defendants' families are dramatic and far from subtle. Wax, a former prosecutor who worked on the "Son of Sam" case, delivers a screed against the policies of the Bush administration: "For five years now, the administration has acted as though U.S. law and the Constitution do not reach Guantanamo and has done everything in its power to obstruct Adele and other prisoners from having as day in court or contact with the outside world." While acknowledging that after 9/11 the government was right to beef up prosecution of terror suspects, the author contends it could be accomplished in a more prudent, nuanced manner. One-sided and too long, but offers important insights into what can happen when overzealous prosecutors believe thatthe ends justify any means. Agent: Al Zuckerman/Writers House
Table of Contents:
Prologue 1
1 Footprints in the Carpet 4
2 "Portland Lawyer Arrested!" 10
3 A Cry for Help from Guantanamo 23
4 Innocence Is Irrelevant 38
5 Seized and Disappeared 46
6 From September 11 to Guantanamo Bay 60
7 The Matching of Latent Print #17 75
8 A Lonely Battle 82
9 Feeding Refugees and Teaching Orphans 98
10 The Unconscionable Detention of Adel Hamad 113
11 The Seeds of Mercy 122
12 A Life Exposed 132
13 The Ice Man 139
14 Something to Hide 149
15 The Cavalry Is Coming 159
16 The DTA and the Second Rebuke 172
17 Homeland Security 187
18 Proffer and Immunity 194
19 Catch-22 205
20 The Road to Kabul 215
21 Defenders in the War Zones 228
22 Spanish Truths/American Lies 237
23 Mayfield: The Aftermath 250
24 The MCA and the Third Procedural Stall 267
25 The Dark Winter 278
26 Tea with the Ministers in Sudan 290
27 The Final Rounds for Adel 304
28 The Fight for Freedom Is Never Won 318
Postscript 324
Acknowledgments 329
Notes 331
Index 361
Books about: Little Red Book or Prayers and Promises When Facing a Life Threatening Illness
Decision in Philadelphia: The Constitutional Convention of 1787
Author: Christopher Collier
Includes a complete copy of the Constitution.
Fifty-five men met in Philadelphia in 1787 to write a document that would create a country and change a world. Here is a remarkable rendering of that fateful time, told with humanity and humor. "The best popular history of the Constitutional Convention available."--Library Journal
Library Journal
The advent of the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution in 1987 calls for a new treatment of the Philadelphia Con vention, one which is written for the general public and informed by recent scholarship. Decision in Philadelphia is just such a book. It is the best popular history of the Constitutional Conven tion available. This clear and well-writ ten volume traces the major issues in volved, dismissing sectional, economic, or class interests as domi nant factors and concentrating instead on the ``deeply rooted attitudes'' and ``emotions'' of individual members. Modern readers will find the authors' comments on the Constitution particu larly interesting, casting many of the Founding Fathers in a new light. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries. Roy H. Tryon, Delaware State Archives, Dover
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