{{Short description|US Marine Corps officer (born 1965)}} {{Infobox military person |name = Michael D. Mori |image = |caption = |allegiance = United States |branch = United States Marine Corps |rank = Lieutenant colonel |unit = |family = |nickname = |birth_date = {{birth year and age|1965}} |death_date = |birth_place = Beverly, Massachusetts |service_years = 1983–2012 |other_work = |awards = Navy Commendation Medal<br/>Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal<br/>Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal }} '''Michael Dante Mori''', also known as '''Dan Mori''' (born 1965), is an American lawyer who attained the rank of lieutenant colonel in the United States Marine Corps. Mori was the military lawyer for Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks.<ref>[http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=267190 Nine News] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070523081343/http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=267190 |date=2007-05-23 }}</ref>

==Early life== Mori was born in Beverly, Massachusetts. He spent four years in the enlisted ranks, reporting for basic training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in December 1983. He served as a repair and calibration technician of electronic test equipment as an enlisted marine. After graduating in 1991 from Norwich University, a military college in Northfield, Vermont, he became an officer in the Marine Corps. In 1994, he graduated from the Western New England College School of Law in Springfield, Massachusetts, before being admitted to the bar in Massachusetts.

==Hicks case== Mori was appointed by the United States Department of Defense to represent David Hicks in November 2003. He handled Hicks' case through to its conclusion. He was featured on numerous occasions in the Australian media in relation to developments in the case.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040610120854/http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2004/05/69543.php "Hicks' lawyer concerned over Guantanamo interrogation"], mirrored Australian Broadcasting Corporation, May 10, 2004.</ref>

Mori was one of the 2005 recipients of the American Civil Liberties Union's Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty Award, which was presented "to the five military defense lawyers who represented the first round of defendants at the Guantánamo Bay tribunals and challenged the entire military commission system."<ref>American Civil Liberties Union (2005). [https://www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/24797res20050727.html "Military Lawyers Honored for Challenging Guantánamo Policies"]. Retrieved August 13, 2006.</ref>

In August 2006, Mori engaged in a lecture tour of Australia on behalf of David Hicks, where he charged the Bush administration with creating an illegal military tribunal system that violated Hicks' rights.<ref>[http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/sep2006/tour-s05.shtml Australia: Thousands hear US military lawyer for David Hicks], ''World Socialist Web Site'', September 5, 2006</ref> He also attended a rally in Adelaide in support of Hicks and led a march to the office of the Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer.

On November 10, 2006, Mori attended the signing of the Fremantle Declaration by the attorneys-general of the states and territories of Australia. The federal attorney-general, Philip Ruddock, refused to attend. The declaration urges judicial fairness be applied in Hicks' case to protect the legal rights of Australians at home and abroad. Mori said "It's disheartening that federal ministers won't fight for an Australian citizen to have the same rights as an American."<ref>[http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200611/s1785856.htm A-Gs demand immediate action on Hicks trial Australian Broadcasting Corporation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113124341/http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200611/s1785856.htm |date=2009-01-13 }}, November 10, 2006.</ref>

Following Hicks' departure from Guantanamo Bay to complete his sentence in Yatala Prison, South Australia (on or about May 20, 2007) Mori was reassigned as a staff judge advocate, or legal adviser, to the commanders of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego. He has three times been passed over for promotion since taking on the Hicks case.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1669162/Guantanamo-lawyer-Mori-moves-to-Australia%20 |title=Guantanamo lawyer Mori moves to Australia &#124; SBS World News |access-date=2012-07-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120715232019/http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1669162/Guantanamo-lawyer-Mori-moves-to-Australia |archive-date=2012-07-15 }}[http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1929231.htm Mori reassigned to 'Top Gun' Marine base. 22/05/2007. ABC News Online<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070523151305/http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1929231.htm |date=2007-05-23 }}</ref>

Mori was presented, in June 2007, with an honorary membership of the Australian Bar Association for his defence of David Hicks.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/06/20/1956268.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824072629/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/06/20/1956268.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 24, 2007 |title=Mori honored for 'fearless' Hicks defence |publisher=ABC News|date=2007-06-20}}</ref> In October 2007, he was awarded a civil justice award from the Australian Lawyers Alliance as "recognition by the legal profession of unsung heroes who, despite personal risk or sacrifice, have fought to preserve individual rights, human dignity or safety".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/tasmania/stories/s2058328.htm?backyard |title=Major Michael Mori humbly accepts justice award in Hobart |publisher=ABC News|date=2007-10-12}}</ref>

In June 2009, he was promoted to a lieutenant colonel and made a senior military judge.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/12/2596659.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090612225337/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/12/2596659.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 12, 2009|title=Promotion for Hicks' US military lawyer|date=12 June 2009|website=abc.net.au}}</ref>

In September 2010, Mori took the Navy to court, alleging that his 2009 promotion was delayed due to bias by the selection board.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/09/marine-promotion-denied-for-defending-terrorism-suspect-091810w/|title=Lawyer: Defending detainee slowed promotion|publisher=Marine Corps Times|date=2010-09-20|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101001061411/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/09/marine-promotion-denied-for-defending-terrorism-suspect-091810w/|archive-date=2010-10-01}}</ref> In July 2012, it was reported that Mori had moved to Melbourne to practice with Australian compensation law firm Shine Lawyers.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/national/guantanamo-lawyer-mori-moves-to-australia/story-e6frfku9-1226426715625 |title=Guantanamo lawyer Mori moves to Australia |publisher=News.com.au|date=2012-07-16}}</ref> Mori's retirement from the Marine Corps became effective in October 2012.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/us-lawyer-for-david-hicks-takes-a-shine-to-melbourne-20120715-224bp.html| title=US lawyer for David Hicks takes a Shine to Melbourne |publisher=The Age |date=2012-07-16}}</ref>

''In the Company of Cowards'', a book by Mori detailing his experience defending Hicks, was published by Viking, a Penguin Australia imprint, in September 2014.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mori |first=Michael |date=24 Sep 2015 |title=In The Company of Cowards |url=http://www.penguin.com.au/products/9780670077854/company-cowards |location=Melbourne Australia|publisher=Penguin Viking |isbn=9780670077854 |access-date=20 Feb 2015}}</ref> Mori's book "focuses on his attempts to secure Hicks' release from an unfair system after his capture."<ref>{{Citation |last=Flitton |first=Daniel |date=22 November 2014 |title=Romanticise |periodical=Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/review-in-the-company-of-cowards-20141115-11mo2b.html }}</ref> Bilal Cleland of ''Australasian Muslim Times'' writes that "Mori's book is a valuable study in military maneuvering and cowardly politics and reveals very clearly the political opportunism of both the Bush and Howard governments."<ref>{{Citation |last=Cleland |first=Bilal |date=7 November 2014 |title=Book Review: "In the Company of Cowards: Bush, Howard and Injustice at Guantanamo" |periodical=Australasian Muslim Times |url=http://www.amust.com.au/2014/11/book-review-in-the-company-of-cowards-bush-howard-and-injustice-at-guantanamo/ }}</ref> Kathy Gollan (former executive producer and editor for ABC Radio National) gives it a mixed review, writing "This book is the story of a man’s search for justice, and even if the prose is pedestrian, and the detail sometimes exhausting, it’s an appealing read."<ref>{{Citation |last=Gollan |first=Kathy |date=6 January 2015 |title=MICHAEL MORI In the Company of Cowards: Bush, Howard and injustice at Guantanamo. Reviewed by Kathy Gollan |periodical=The Newtown Review of Books |url=http://newtownreviewofbooks.com.au/2015/01/06/michael-mori-company-cowards-bush-howard-injustice-guantanamo-reviewed-kathy-gollan/ }}</ref> Former literary editor of The Australian, Miriam Cosic, writes in the ''Sydney Review of Books'' that "Mori goes into an enormous amount of detail in this book, which is full of names, dates, acronyms and arcane points of law. Surprisingly, the narrative doesn’t pall because of this, but maintains a gripping pace."<ref>{{Citation |last=Cosic |first=Miriam |date=5 December 2014 |title=Undue process |periodical=Sydney Review of Books |url=http://www.sydneyreviewofbooks.com/michael-mori-company-of-cowards/ }}</ref>

In January 2015, Propublica obtained a copy of Guantanamo's Chief Prosecutor, Mark S. Martin opposition to Hicks's motion to have his charges dropped.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://psmag.com/news/the-case-against-guantanamo-detainee-david-hicks|title=The Case Against Guantanamo Detainee David Hicks|work=Pacific Standard|author=Raymond Bonner|date=2015-02-05|access-date=2015-02-08|quote="Hicks will finally get justice," said Michael Mori, a Marine Corps major who was Hicks' military lawyer. Mori is now out of the military and is no longer involved in the case, but he said he has seen a copy of the prosecutor's brief, as did two lawyers currently representing Hicks.}}</ref> Raymond Bonner, writing in the ''Pacific Standard'', reported that Mori, and two other lawyers who worked on Hicks's behalf, had been shown Martins's reply, where he made the "crucial concession" that "if the appeal were allowed, 'the Court should not confirm Hicks's material-support conviction.'" Bonner quoted Mori asserting, based on his review of Martins's reply that "Hicks will finally get justice."

== Career in Australia == Mori is on the Board of George Newhouse's National Justice Project.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.justice.org.au/our-people-2/ | title=Our Board | publisher=National Justice Project | access-date=May 7, 2017 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312021846/https://www.justice.org.au/our-people-2 | archive-date=March 12, 2017 }}</ref>

==See also==

* List of U.S. Marines {{Clear}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070523081343/http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=267190 ''Bulletin'' article May 26, 2007] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060820063657/http://billboard.anu.edu.au/event_view.asp?id=7631 Biography from the Australian National University] * [https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/28/international/worldspecial2/28AUST.html?ex=1395810000&en=1159f2f48f3c2c9b&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND Marine Defends Guantánamo Detainee, and Surprises Australians], ''The New York Times'' * [https://www.theguardian.com/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1177277,00.html US major attacks Guantánamo justice], ''The Guardian'' * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120205181957/http://www.aclu.org/liberty/2.html ACLU biography] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060303070556/http://sunday.ninemsn.com.au/sunday/feature_stories/article_1484.asp?s=1 Major Michael Mori], ''ninemsn'', February 15, 2004 * [http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2005/s1293276.htm US Federal Court judge rules Guantanamo Military Commissions unconstitutional], Australian Broadcasting Corporation, February 1, 2005 * [http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/transcripts/s1709428.htm Interview: Major Michael Mori], ''Enough Rope with Andrew Denton'', Australian Broadcasting Corporation, August 14, 2006. * [http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/sep2006/tour-s05.shtml Australia: Thousands hear US military lawyer for David Hicks], ''World Socialist Web Site'', September 5, 2006.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mori, Michael}} Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:Norwich University alumni Category:United States Marine Corps officers Category:Guantanamo Bay attorneys Category:Western New England University alumni Category:People from Beverly, Massachusetts Category:American military lawyers Category:American expatriates in Australia