Robert D. Rachlin is a Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

, U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 lawyer. He is a partner in Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC, the state's largest law firm, practicing in the firm's Burlington, Vermont office.

Rachlin spent most of his legal career handling cases for business clients.

Guantánamo clients

He volunteered to the Center for Constitutional Rights

Center for Constitutional Rights

Al Odah v. United States:Al Odah is the latest in a series of habeas corpus petitions on behalf of people imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The case challenges the Military Commissions system’s suitability as a habeas corpus substitute and the legality, in general, of detention at...

 to serve as an attorney for detainess in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...

. In an interview Rachlin said:

"This is not a question of whether they deserve a lawyer," he said. "This is a question of whether the system should be allowed to function. The minute you're depriving the most unpopular person of a lawyer, you're setting a precedent. The next thing that happens is you deprive someone a little less popular, and then eventually you're depriving your political opponents.

"We're protecting our fellow citizens, as well as these people."

Rachlin has two clients who are Guantánamo detainees, Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

n Djamel Saiid Ali Ameziane

Djamel Ameziane

Barry Clarke, Bishop of the Anglican diocese of Montreal, which is helping to sponsor Ameziane, wrote about how he responded to Canadians critical of the Church's initiative on Ameziane's behalf.He called Ameziane's captivity in Guantanamo "an injustice"....

 and Saudi Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi.
Between August 2005 and April 2006 Rachlin made five trips to Guantánamo. He has paid for his travel and accommodation out of his own pocket.

Al-Sharbi is one of the ten Guantánamo detainees who faces charges before a military commission

Guantanamo military commission

The Guantanamo military commissions are military tribunals created by the Military Commissions Act of 2006 for prosecuting detainees held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps.- History :...

. Al-Sharbi wants to decline legal representation. Rachlin is trying arrange for Al-Sharbi to talk, by phone, with his parents, hoping they will be able to convince him to accept Rachlin's legal assistance and that of the detailed military counsel.

In reply to the allegations against Ameziane Rachlin has said: "There's nothing here that shows that he so much as held a firearm or did anything against the United States -- he's one of those guys who were at the wrong place at the wrong time. There's nothing more here than guilt by association."

Rachlin serves as a faculty member of Vermont Law School. He is also a concert pianist and co-founder of the Vermont Chamber Group.