Mark P. Denbeaux, one of Seton Hall’s most senior faculty members, is also the Director of the Seton Hall Law School Center for Policy and Research, which is best known for its production of the internationally recognized series of reports on the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp.  Denbeaux’s interest in the conditions of detainment arose from his representation of two detainees there.

Following his visits to GITMO, and his participation in amicus briefs arising out of the rules governing the hearings for “enemy combatants,” EXPAND Denbeaux realized the need for an analysis of the government’s assumptions and the principles governing the detention process. 

While Denbeaux directs the Center, the Center’s reports are primarily produced by the Seton Hall Law students who are the members and fellows of the Center, beginning in their first year.  Several graduates have remained involved in the Center’s work as well. 

In the last year alone, these reports have included:

§    Captured on Tape: Interrogation and Videotaping of Detainees in Guantánamo (02/07/08)

§    The Meaning of "Battlefield": An Analysis of the Government’s Representations of ‘Battlefield Capture’ and ‘Recidivism’ of the Guantánamo Detainees (12/10/07)

§    The Empty Battlefield and the Thirteenth Criterion (11/08/07)

All of the Center’s reports can be found at http://law.shu.edu/news/guantanamo_reports.htm. 

The Center’s work is relied upon both domestically and internationally. The Reports have been cited by and included in the Congressional Record of the House Armed Services Committee, the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Professor Denbeaux has testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee.   In addition, the Guantanamo Reports have been in cited in numerous briefs in federal district courts, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and the United States Supreme Court.  They have also be the subject of thousands of news reports, academic gatherings and legal symposiums. 

Professor Denbeaux is an extremely effective first year teacher and one of the school’s more effective upper class professors.  He primarily teaches Contracts in the first year curriculum, and is well-known for his use of the Socratic Method.  Most recently, he has focused upon the unique problems surrounding the testimony of those who profess to be forensic scientists. While Professor Denbeaux also teaches evidence, his seminars, which arise out of his interest in the admissibility of “pseudo-science” in trials, comprise his most popular upper class offerings.

Professor Denbeaux’s seminar considers studies forensic evidence.  The course evaluates the reliability of forensic document examiners who testify as to handwriting identification, fingerprint identification, ballistics, tool marks, blood spatter, bit marks and other crime scene forensic witnesses.  The study of these areas includes an evaluation of the reliability and validity of each area’s conclusions, the value of each area’s proficiency testing, and the methodology upon which the conclusions are reached.  In order to fully evaluate forensic evidence, Seton Hall has become a crime laboratory and has taken the proficiency tests and has given opinions about the methodology used by specific forensic fields in court and has written reports that have been used in court proceedings.  A significant part of the seminar includes participating in these projects.  He has spoken on the subject of forensic science at dozens of academic gatherings and has testified as an expert witness on the limitations of forensic evidence more than 50 times in state and federal courts as well as in administrative proceedings.

Professor Denbeaux graduated from the College of Wooster and New York University School of Law.  He was a staff attorney and then coordinator of New York City litigation for the New York City Legal Services Program.  Thereafter he joined the Seton Hall Law School faculty.   During his career at Seton Hall Law School he served as a Director and then the Chair of the Board of the New York City Legal Services Corporation.

Mark Denbeaux

Seton Hall Law School,

Newark, NJ

07102

www.denbeama@shu.edu

Office 973 642 8822

Mobile 201 214 6785

 SSRN: http://ssrn.com/author=543402