The primary authors of the two In Pursuit of Justice reports are Richard B. Zabel and James J. Benjamin, Jr., partners in the New York office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. They, along with a terrific team at Akin Gump, devoted much hard work and many long hours to prepare this research on a pro bono basis.

Members of the Akin Gump team include Michael Lockard and Joseph Sorkin, who provided indispensable leadership and assistance throughout the process, as well as Jessica Budoff, Daniel Chau, Russell Collins, Kirk Conway, Rachel Gerstein, Samidh Guha, Christopher Kercher, Natasha Kohne, Amit Kurlekar, Leslie Lanphear, Sherene Lewis, Kathleen Leicht, Alana Martell, Jessica Mason, Robert Pees, Elizabeth Peterson, Charles Riely, Jamie Sheldon and Ashley Waters. Although Akin Gump is proud of the firm’s commitment to pro bono work, the views expressed in these reports include those of the primary authors and Human Rights First; they are not the views of Akin Gump as a firm or of other Akin Gump attorneys.

Human Rights First staff who contributed to these reports include Devon Chaffee, Associate Attorney; Deborah Colson, Senior Associate, Law and Security Program; Neil Hicks, International Policy Advisor; Anwen Hughes, Senior Counsel, Refugee Protection Program; Kevin Lanigan, Director, Law and Security Program; Sahr MuhammedAlly, Senior Associate, Law and Security Program; and Gabor Rona, International Legal Director.

As former Assistant United States Attorneys in the Southern District of New York, Rich and Jim deeply understand the range of tools that prosecutors can and will use to prosecute individuals whom the government believes to be complicit in international terrorism. They present, in these papers, some much-needed practical information on how the U.S. criminal justice system has worked in the past and should work in the future.

Human Rights First published the reports as part of our continuing effort to work collaboratively with those on the front lines of protecting U.S. national security.

The reports give a detailed demonstration of the strengths and capacities of the federal criminal justice system to try individuals accused of terrorism and other threats to national security.