Anant Raut
Encyclopedia
Anant Raut is an American
lawyer
. He was formerly an associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges
. He was also formerly Counsel to the Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives. He is currently an attorney at Pepper Hamilton LLP in Washington, DC.
Anant Raut is a graduate of Yale University
and Harvard Law School
. After working for two years litigating antitrust
cases at the Federal Trade Commission
, he joined Weil, Gotshal & Manges. He has provided habeas representation to 5 Saudi Arabian detainees held at Guantanamo Bay detention camp, including two of the 16 Saudis released from Guantanamo in early September 2007: Abdullah Al Anazi, and Abdul Aziz Sad Al Owshan.
Another one of his clients, Adel al Nusairi, was featured in an April 22, 2008 Washington Post story as one of a number of detainees who were allegedly drugged with unknown substances prior to being interrogated. As stated in the article, during one such interrogation in which a groggy Mr. al Nusairi was forcibly kept awake in an ice-cold room, eventually signing a false confession professing involvement in al Qaeda
. The article further stated that a 2003 Department of Justice memo by John C. Yoo
explicitly condoned the use of drugs on detainees.
Mr. Raut and fellow habeas attorney Candace Gorman were two of the first people to dispute the administration's charge that approximately 30 former Guantanamo detainees had returned to the battlefield, a claim later substantiated by researchers at Seton Hall Law School.
In response to statements by the Department of Defense that it only intended to charge between 60 and 80 of the prisoners being held in Guantanamo Bay, Mr. Raut prepared a series of slides in June 2007 showing the high cost of continuing to hold the remaining 300.
In late 2007, Mr. Raut joined the Al Odah v. United States
trial team, one of the cases decided as part of the Supreme Court's
decision in Boumediene v. Bush
, decided on June 12, 2008.
Mr. Raut is a recipient of the 2007 National Legal Aid & Defender Association
Beacon of Justice Award and the 2007 Southern Center for Human Rights
Frederick Douglass Human Rights Award.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
. He was formerly an associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges
Weil, Gotshal & Manges
Weil, Gotshal & Manges is a prominent international law firm, one of the largest and most prestigious in the world with 1,200 lawyers and gross annual revenue in excess of $1.1 billion. The firm was founded in New York City in 1931 by Frank Weil, Sylvan Gotshal, and Horace Manges...
. He was also formerly Counsel to the Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives. He is currently an attorney at Pepper Hamilton LLP in Washington, DC.
Anant Raut is a graduate of Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
. After working for two years litigating antitrust
Antitrust
The United States antitrust law is a body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Antitrust laws are intended to encourage competition in the marketplace. These competition laws make illegal certain practices deemed to hurt businesses or consumers or both,...
cases at the Federal Trade Commission
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
, he joined Weil, Gotshal & Manges. He has provided habeas representation to 5 Saudi Arabian detainees held at Guantanamo Bay detention camp, including two of the 16 Saudis released from Guantanamo in early September 2007: Abdullah Al Anazi, and Abdul Aziz Sad Al Owshan.
Another one of his clients, Adel al Nusairi, was featured in an April 22, 2008 Washington Post story as one of a number of detainees who were allegedly drugged with unknown substances prior to being interrogated. As stated in the article, during one such interrogation in which a groggy Mr. al Nusairi was forcibly kept awake in an ice-cold room, eventually signing a false confession professing involvement in al Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
. The article further stated that a 2003 Department of Justice memo by John C. Yoo
John Yoo
John Choon Yoo is an American attorney, law professor, and author. As a former official in the United States Department of Justice during the George W...
explicitly condoned the use of drugs on detainees.
Mr. Raut and fellow habeas attorney Candace Gorman were two of the first people to dispute the administration's charge that approximately 30 former Guantanamo detainees had returned to the battlefield, a claim later substantiated by researchers at Seton Hall Law School.
In response to statements by the Department of Defense that it only intended to charge between 60 and 80 of the prisoners being held in Guantanamo Bay, Mr. Raut prepared a series of slides in June 2007 showing the high cost of continuing to hold the remaining 300.
In late 2007, Mr. Raut joined the Al Odah v. United States
Al Odah v. United States
Al Odah v. United States is a court case filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights and co-counsels challenging the legality of the continued detention, without charge, of Guantanamo detainees. The case is in many ways a continuation of the landmark Center for Constitutional Rights case Rasul v....
trial team, one of the cases decided as part of the Supreme Court's
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
decision in Boumediene v. Bush
Boumediene v. Bush
Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723 , was a writ of habeas corpus submission made in a civilian court of the United States on behalf of Lakhdar Boumediene, a naturalized citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, held in military detention by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in Cuba...
, decided on June 12, 2008.
Mr. Raut is a recipient of the 2007 National Legal Aid & Defender Association
National Legal Aid & Defender Association
The National Legal Aid & Defender Association is the oldest and largest national, nonprofit membership organization devoted to advocating equal justice for all Americans...
Beacon of Justice Award and the 2007 Southern Center for Human Rights
Southern Center for Human Rights
The Southern Center for Human Rights is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to enforcing the civil and human rights of people in the criminal justice system in the South...
Frederick Douglass Human Rights Award.
Works
- (with Jill M. FriedmanJill M. FriedmanJill M. Friedman is an American lawyer. She is known for her legal work pertaining to the prisoners of Guantanamo Bay. Friedman is a member of the Washington office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, a law firm that provided free representation for five Saudis detained at Guantanamo Bay.Friedman and Anant...
) The Saudi Repatriates Report, March 19, 2007. - 'Why I defend “terrorists”', salon.comSalon.comSalon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, January 17, 2007 - (w J. Benjamin Schrader) "Dereliction of Duty: When Members of Congress Vote for Legislation They Believe to Be Unconstitutional," New York City Law Review (Fall 2007)
- GTMO Documents, "What About the Other 300+?"