Center for Policy and Research
The Center for Policy and Research at Seton Hall University School of Law provides law students with an uncommon opportunity to gain experience in forensic analysis and investigation through research into national policies and practices. Expanding their knowledge beyond legal doctrine, students participating in the Center as Fellows gain proficiency in identifying patterns and inconsistencies, and uncovering the truth that can help shape the law and public policy.
The mission of the Center for Policy and Research is rooted in a dedication to scholarly learning, practical training, and impact. Pattern recognition, factual evaluation and careful use of data are essential for both the practice of law and for the application of legal doctrine to real world problems. Seton Hall offers students a unique opportunity to work with facts and data, to find and develop patterns from large quantities of information, and to evaluate the significance of what they discover.
Under the direction of Professor Mark Denbeaux the Center’s work focuses on three key areas: Interrogations & Intelligence, National Security, and Forensics. Among the Center’s high-profile projects are the world renowned Guantánamo Reports, which were originally spurred from Professor Denbeaux’s representation of two Guantánamo detainees. The Reports were developed by analyzing the government’s own data through the systematic review of literally over 100,000 pages of government documents procured through the Freedom of Information Act. The Guantánamo Reports have been widely cited, published and reported throughout the world.
Reports
Guantánamo
The Center has released multiple reports analyzing the Guantánamo Bay Naval Facility and its role in national security policy. The Center has issued reports regarding weight data of the detainees, the recidivism rates of released prisoners, the incidents surrounding an alleged triple suicide at the camp, detainee interrogation methods, and other issues. The various Guantánamo reports have been cited by various media outlets such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Salon.com, Slate.com, the Huffington Post, CBS, MSNBC, and Fox News.
In 2009, the Center issued a report, Death in Camp Delta, which analyzed the government’s investigation of three simultaneous deaths of detainees in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. According to the Center report, the June 2006 deaths raised serious questions about the security of the Camp, the duties of officials of multiple defense and intelligence agencies that allowed three detainees to die, and the quality of the investigation into the cause of the deaths.
In 2011, the Center released The Guantanamo Diet: Actual Facts about Detainee Weight Changes. Using data of detainee weigh-ins released by the Department of Defense, the Center was able to discern that detainees’ weights varied so wildly that many detainees have been obese briefly and under-nourished at other times, and that the same percentage of Guantánamo detainees have become underweight at some point as have become obese at some point.
Abu Ghraib
The Center is currently working to analyze the investigation of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.
Corporate
The Center’s corporate team recently published a report examining in-depth the investigation of Lehman Brothers’ business practices undertaken by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Examiner in the largest bankruptcy ever filed. The Center focused primarily on Lehman’s risk management and asset valuation— two aspects of company worth not readily available or discernible to the investing public— and notes that Lehman’s conscious violation of internal risk limitations as well as its conscious failure to accurately value assets was, alarmingly, found insufficient as a matter of law by the Examiner to trigger legal sanctions against Lehman Brothers or even a reprimand.
Forensics
What sort of evidence is most reliable for revealing the facts? What is the impact when certain evidence is allowed and other evidence dismissed? How does the collection of evidence affect the outcome? The Center for Policy and Research’s Crime Laboratory is answering those questions and more as it investigates and evaluates the methodologies of forensic science to determine their validity and appropriateness.
Drug Free Zones
The Center performed a quantitative analysis of drug free zone coverage throughout the state of New Jersey to determine whether or not they impose a disparate impact on minorities.
Breathalyzers
The center published a report which exposed the unreviewable nature of New Jersey’s breathalyzers and the evidentiary impact of that unreviewability.
Publications
- "The Guantanamo Diet: Actual Facts About Detainee Weight Changes", 2011-26-05
- "Rumsfeld Knew", 2011-03-03
- "Drug Abuse: An Exploration of the Government's Use of Mefloquine at Guantanamo", 2011-02-12
- "DoD Contradicts DoD: An Analysis of the Response to Death in Camp Delta, 2010-04-10
- Death in Camp Delta", 2009-07-12
- "Revisionist Recidivism: An Analysis of the Governments Representations of Alleged "Recidivism" of the Guantánamo Detainees", 2009-06-05
- "Torture: Who knew An Analysis of the FBI and Department of Defense Reactions to Harsh Interrogation Methods at Guantanamo", 2009-04-01
- Released Guantánamo Detainees and the Department of Defense: Propaganda By the Numbers?", 2009-01-15
- "Profile of Released Guantánamo: The Government's Story Then and Now", August 4, 2008 (with Joshua Denbeaux, Adam Deutsch, James Hlavenka, Gabrielle Hughes, Brianna Kostecka, Michael Patterson, Paul Taylor, and Anthony Torntore).
- "Justice Scalia, the Department of Defense, and The Perpetuation of an Urban Legend: The Truth about Recidivism of Released Guantánamo Detainees", June 16, 2008 (with Joshua Denbeaux, Daniel Lorenzo, Mark Muoio, Grace Brown, Jennifer Ellick, Jillian Camarote, Douglas Eadie, and Paul Taylor).
- "Captured on Tape: Interrogation and Videotaping of Detainees in Guantánamo", February 7, 2008 (with Joshua Denbeaux, Jennifer Ellick, Michael Ricciardelli, Matthew Darby).
- "The Meaning of "Battlefield": An Analysis of the Government’s Representations of ‘Battlefield Capture’ and ‘Recidivism’ of the Guantánamo Detainees", December 10, 2007 (with Joshua Denbeaux, Grace Brown, Jillian Camarote, Douglas Eadie, Jennifer Ellick, Daniel Lorenzo, Mark Muoio, Courtney Ray, and Nebroisa Zlatanovic).
- "No Hearing-Hearings", November 17, 2006 (with Joshua Denbeaux, David Gratz, John Gregorek, Matthew Darby, Shana Edwards, Shane Hartman, Daniel Mann, Megan Sassaman and Helen Skinner).
- "Report on Guantanamo Detainees, A Profile of 517 Detainees through Analysis of Department of Defense Data", February 8, 2006 (with Joshua Denbeaux, David Gratz, John Gregorek, Matthew Darby, Shana Edwards, Shane Hartman, Daniel Mann, and Helen Skinner).
- "Second Report on the Guantanamo Detainees: Inter and Intra Departmental Disagreements About Who Is Our Enemy", March 20, 2006 (with Joshua Denbeaux, David Gratz, John Gregorek, Matthew Darby, Shana Edwards, Shane Hartman, Daniel Mann, and Helen Skinner).
- "The Guantanamo Detainees During Detention", July 10, 2006 (with Joshua Denbeaux, David Gratz, John Gregorek, Matthew Darby, Shana Edwards, Shane Hartman, Daniel Mann, Megan Sassaman, and Helen Skinner).
- "June 10 Suicides at Guantanamo", August 21, 2006 (with Joshua Denbeaux, David Gratz, John Gregorek, Matthew Darby, Shana Edwards, Shane Hartman, Daniel Mann, Megan Sassaman, and Helen Skinner).
- "No-hearing hearings", November 17, 2006 (with Joshua Denbeaux, David Gratz, John Gregorek, Matthew Darby, Shana Edwards, Shane Hartman, Daniel Mann, Megan Sassaman, and Helen Skinner).
Articles Published by the Center for Policy and Research
- "Death in Camp Delta", December 7, 2009 (with Brian Beroth, Scott Buerkle, Sean Camoni, Meghan Chrisner, Adam Deutsch, Jesse Dresser, Doug Eadie, Michelle Fish, Marissa Litwin, Michael McDonough, Michael J. Patterson, Shannon Sterritt, Kelli Stout, and Paul Taylor).
- "Profile of Released Guantánamo: The Government's Story Then and Now", August 4, 2008 (with Joshua Denbeaux, Adam Deutsch, James Hlavenka, Gabrielle Hughes, Brianna Kostecka, Michael Patterson, Paul Taylor, and Anthony Torntore).
- "Justice Scalia, the Department of Defense, and The Perpetuation of an Urban Legend: The Truth about Recidivism of Released Guantánamo Detainees", June 16, 2008 (with Joshua Denbeaux, Daniel Lorenzo, Mark Muoio, Grace Brown, Jennifer Ellick, Jillian Camarote, Douglas Eadie, and Paul Taylor).
- "Captured on Tape: Interrogation and Videotaping of Detainees in Guantánamo", February 7, 2008 (with Joshua Denbeaux, Jennifer Ellick, Michael Ricciardelli, Matthew Darby).
- "The Meaning of "Battlefield": An Analysis of the Government’s Representations of ‘Battlefield Capture’ and ‘Recidivism’ of the Guantánamo Detainees", December 10, 2007 (with Joshua Denbeaux, Grace Brown, Jillian Camarote, Douglas Eadie, Jennifer Ellick, Daniel Lorenzo, Mark Muoio, Courtney Ray, and Nebroisa Zlatanovic).
- "No Hearing-Hearings", November 17, 2006 (with Joshua Denbeaux, David Gratz, John Gregorek, Matthew Darby, Shana Edwards, Shane Hartman, Daniel Mann, Megan Sassaman and Helen Skinner).
- "June 10th Suicides at Guantánamo", August 21, 2006 (with Joshua Denbeaux, David Gratz, John Gregorek, Matthew Darby, Shana Edwards, Shane Hartman, Daniel Mann, Megan Sassaman and Helen Skinner).
- "Report on Guantanamo Detainees, A Profile of 517 Detainees through Analysis of Department of Defense Data", February 8, 2006 (with Joshua Denbeaux, David Gratz, John Gregorek, Matthew Darby, Shana Edwards, Shane Hartman, Daniel Mann, and Helen Skinner).
- "Second Report on the Guantanamo Detainees: Inter and Intra Departmental Disagreements About Who Is Our Enemy", March 20, 2006 (with Joshua Denbeaux, David Gratz, John Gregorek, Matthew Darby, Shana Edwards, Shane Hartman, Daniel Mann, and Helen Skinner).
- "The Guantanamo Detainees During Detention", July 10, 2006 (with Joshua Denbeaux, David Gratz, John Gregorek, Matthew Darby, Shana Edwards, Shane Hartman, Daniel Mann, Megan Sassaman, and Helen Skinner).
- "June 10th Suicides at Guantanamo", August 21, 2006 (with Joshua Denbeaux, David Gratz, John Gregorek, Matthew Darby, Shana Edwards, Shane Hartman, Daniel Mann, Megan Sassaman, and Helen Skinner).
- "No-hearing hearings", November 17, 2006 (with Joshua Denbeaux, David Gratz, John Gregorek, Matthew Darby, Shana Edwards, Shane Hartman, Daniel Mann, Megan Sassaman, and Helen Skinner).
Center For Policy and Research Cited Articles
Public Radio International interview 7-30-09: http://www.theworld.org/2009/07/30/preserving-guantanamo-history*[1] Denbeaux statement to Senate Judiciary Committee 12-11-07: http://kyl.senate.gov/legis_center/subdocs/121107_denbeaux.pd *[2] Denbeaux quote in article about GTMO detainee held over charity ties: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/08/31/detentions_over_charity_ties_questioned *[3] Citation: 48 Harv. Int’l L.J. Online 69 (2007): http://www.harvardilj.org/online/111 *[4] Citing Feb 2006 report: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/26/washington/26gitmo.htm *[5] Quote in- Guardian: 2-23-09: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/23/guantanamo-bay-prison-human-rights *[6] Report Site: 1-8-08: http://www.theagitator.com/2008/01/08/innocent-in-guantanamo *[7] Report Study: 1-22-09: http://www.slate.com/id/2209404 *[8] Denbeaux quote/study: 11-21-06: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=651492 *[9] Denbeaux quote: 6-14-06: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-06-14-bush-gitmo_x.htm *[10] Rafiq Lawsuit: 4-23-09: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/tunisian_man_sues_over_alleged.html *[11] Denbeaux quote: 6-12-06: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,199030,00.html *[12] Report quote 2-11-06: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\02\11\story_11-2-2006_pg4_4 *[13] Report quote 6-10-09: http://blog.taragana.com/n/new-jersey-law-professor-alleges-pentagon-inflates-recidivism-of-freed-gitmo-detainees-76953 *[14] Report quote: 5-21-09: http://sweetness-light.com/archive/1-in-7-freed-detainees-back-at-terrorism *[15] Denbeaux quote/report: 1-14-09: http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2009-01/2009-01-14-voa12.cfm?CFID=309692450&CFTOKEN=35800358&jsessionid=8830d5fd70acd4a457a2019a215f5d3d1458 *[16] Report site: 4-7-09: http://www.torturesnotus.net/pb/wp_5f06f211/wp_5f06f211.html *[17] Report site: 1-25-09: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/25/national/main4752211.shtml *[18] Report Site: 5-20-09: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/us/politics/21gitmo.html *[19] Denbeaux quote: 6-12-06: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0612-03.htm *[20] Denbeaux Quote: 6-12-06: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5070514.stm *[21] Riccardelli site 5-27-09: http://www.shuruleoflaw.com/2009/01/27/209/ *[22] Report/Denbeaux quote: http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/1166 *[23] Report Quote. 9-9-07: http://www.witnesstorture.org/who_are_they *[24] Report Quote: http://gdaeman.blogspot.com/2007/09/many-in-guantanamo-are-innocent.html *[25] Report site 1-26-09: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/fd/refugeeresettlement_/RefugeeResettlement_en.pdf *[26] Report site 1-22-09: http://bucknakedpolitics.typepad.com/buck_naked_politics/2009/01/was-the-guantanamo-report-fake.html *[27] Denbeaux quote 2-24-06: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0122/p01s01-usgn.html *[28] Report site: http://www.smh.com.au/news/richard-ackland/innocence-ignored-at-guantanamo/2006/02/23/1140670202994.html *[29]