| Kyndra Rotunda | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1974 (age 37–38) |
| Residence | Villa Park, California |
| Nationality | United States |
| Alma mater | University of Wyoming (B.A. '96) UW College of Law (J.D. '99) |
| Occupation | law professor, lawyer, US Army officer, author |
| Spouse | Ronald D. Rotunda |
| Website | |
| www.kyndrarotunda.com | |
Kyndra Kaye Rotunda[1] (née Miller, born c. 1974) is an American lawyer, author, and officer in the U.S. Army JAG Corps Individual Ready Reserve.[2] She is a law professor at the Chapman University School of Law.[3]
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She attended the University of Wyoming from 1992 to 1999, receiving a B.A. (1996) in history and a J.D. (1999) from the University of Wyoming College of Law.[4][5]
From 2000 through 2003, Rotunda served as an officer in the US Army JAG Corps and she is currently a Major in the Army Individual Ready Reserve.[5] She is notable for her military service related to Guantanamo Bay, first as a Legal Advisor to the Guantanamo Detention Camp Commander, later as a legal advisor to the Department of Defense Criminal Investigation Task Force, then as a Prosecutor for the Guantanamo Military Commissions. In 2008, she published a book about her experience, titled Honor Bound: Inside the Guantanamo Trials.[6]
From 2003 to 2005, she was the Wyoming State Planning Coordinator and served as an advisor to then-Governor Dave Freudenthal.[5]
In 2006, she became a law professor at the George Mason University School of Law, where she was the Director of a pro bono law clinic for military personnel and veterans.[7]
In 2008, Rotunda and her husband Ronald Rotunda joined a list of former faculty of George Mason University who took positions at the Chapman University School of Law. She developed and heads the Chapman pro bono law clinic for military personnel and veterans. She was recently named as a Lecturer at University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall), to assist in starting a similar clinic there.[8]
Professor Rotunda advocates for military troops. Her op-eds have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Christian Science Monitor, The New York Sun, The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Times, The Orange County Register, and others. She has appeared on national and international television news programs including Al Jazeera, Hannity's America, and The Brit Hume Report.[4]
In September, 2008, Professor Rotunda testified before Congress about restoring the rule of law in Guantanamo Bay and various legal issues impacting the troops.[9]
Specialist in Constitutional Law at the Library of Congress Louis Fisher wrote that as a JAG officer, Rotunda had "a good opportunity to understand the military commissions underway at “Gitmo” and correct misconceptions about the procedures."[10] About the book, he wrote, "For readers hoping for an even-handed assessment, the initial appearance is not promising." Fisher quotes Shepard's statement that the U.S. erred in "imposing rules that made it difficult for prosecutors to respond to defense counsel claims...", and states that "The book never explains what constraints existed...". Of Rotunda's statement that the U.S. erred by "giving detainees more rights than the Geneva Conventions require", Fisher states "They needed them. Unlike prisoners of war, who are released after a war and do not face trial, the detainees were subject to prosecution and possibly the death sentence".[10]
Toronto Star reporter Michelle Shephard, author of Guantanamo's Child: The Untold Story of Omar Khadr critiqued five Guantanamo-related books, including Rotunda's Honor Bound which she called "...a poorly written personal account of an Army JAG that glosses over critical events in Guantanamo's history with offhand dismissals." Shephard continued, "There is some interesting legal stuff to ponder – such as how and why has the U.S. administration exceeded or sidestepped the protections of the international Geneva Conventions ...".[11]
Honor Bound has received favorable reactions from recognized legal experts, including former Attorney General Meese, New York Times Bestselling author James Swanson and Harvard Law Professir Alan Dershowitz. Former United States Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson endorsed the book, saying "No American should miss the opportunity -- and responsibility -- to read it. Bravo!"[12]
Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz called the book an "eye-opening inside account [that] must be read by everyone who cares about balancing national security and human dignity."[12] Dershowitz maintains that the law regarding torture should permit it in the "ticking time bomb" scenario, but Rotunda rejects that view. She opposes torture and called Dershowitz's "ticking time bomb" hypothetical, and "inherently imperfect because it assumes what we cannot know."[13]
In June 2008 the Supreme Court overturned portions of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 and the Military Commissions Act of 2006 which had attempted to strip access to habeas corpus from captives held at Guantanamo.[14] Rotunda responded with an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune entitled "Supreme Court Ruling Puts Soldiers at Great Risk", that was highly critical of the Supreme Court's ruling. In the years since the ruling Rotunda has appeared on academic panels and published papers criticizing the decision.[15]
In the National Review, Peter Pham stated that Rotunda had more years of military service than all the nine Supreme Court Justices put together.[14] According to Pham, Rotunda's position was that:
"... military commanders must justify battlefield captures and prove to a U.S. judge that decisions they made on the ground—in a faraway land during a battle—were justified ... [the decision] puts American troops at risk and will lead to more U.S. deaths on the battlefield because it makes it more difficult for soldiers to detain the enemy."[14]
In September 2008 Rotunda testified before a subcommittee of the United States Senate's Judicial Committee.[16] In her testimony Rotunda cited incidents where U.S. prison guards were attacked by detainees and where U.S. officials, contrary to U.S. and International Law, made some areas "off limits" to U.S. guards maintaining detemtion camps. She discussed one incident in Camp Bucca, Iraq, which led detainees to attack from the inside out and resulted in a bloody four day stand off. Rotunda supported religious freedoms for detainees, but opined making prison areas and detainee personal items "off limits" to searches by U.S. prison guards has led to violence and has put guards at risk.
"According to one military police officer who served in Guantanamo Bay, detainees brandish their home-made shanks to threaten U.S. troops, and then quickly shove them back into the Qu'ran, where they know are "off limits" to guards. Even in this situation, the guard may not touch the Qu'ran to confiscate the weapon."
In March 2011 Rotunda weighed in on a controversy over whether their superiors should have encouraged female GIs in Afghanistan and Iraq to wear head-scarves to conform to local ideas of females dress,[17] stating that anyone familiar with military culture understood this suggestion was tantamount to an order, which inappropriately put female GIs at risk.
On April 8, 2011, in a Chicago Tribune op-ed about those risks, Rotunda triggered controversy.[18] Rotunda asserted that wearing headscarves prevented the wearing of helmets, and that the recommendation was inconsistent with an earlier policy that prohibited jewish GIs from wearing the yarmulke. Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Michael Lawhorn disputed Rotunda's safety claims, stating that female GIs were not being encouraged to wear headscarves instead of their helmets, that their helmet could be worn over top of a headscarf.
According to Rotunda, the objections from Lieutenant Colonel Martha McSally, a female fighter pilot stationed in Saudi Arabia, had influenced Congress to pass an "anti-abaya law".[18] But Rotunda said the 2003 law was specific to female GIs stationed in Saudi Arabia, and had expired.