{{Short description|American judge and political scientist (born 1943)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Scott Silliman | office = Judge of the United States Court of Military Commission Review | appointer = Barack Obama | term_start = September 12, 2012 | term_end = 2023 | predecessor = William Coleman | successor = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1943}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | education = University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (BA, JD) }} '''Scott Livingston Silliman'''<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110073601/the-news-and-observer/|title=United Nations Anniversary dinner|work=The News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)|date=October 19, 1999}}</ref> (born 1943) is a professor emeritus of the Practice of Law at Duke Law School, and emeritus executive director of Duke Law School's Center on Law, Ethics and National Security.<ref name=MilBio/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://0-www.law.duke.edu.library.law.suffolk.edu/news/story?id=4893&u=11 |title=Former Air Force Deputy Judge Advocate General to join Duke Law faculty July 1 |publisher=0-www.law.duke.edu.library.law.suffolk.edu |date=April 29, 2010 |accessdate=May 23, 2010}}</ref> He was also an adjunct professor of law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.law.unc.edu/faculty/directory/sillimanscottl/default.aspx |title=Scott L. Silliman |publisher=Law.unc.edu |date= |accessdate=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=June 10, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610004154/http://www.law.unc.edu/faculty/directory/sillimanscottl/default.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> and at North Carolina Central University.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.nccu.edu/law/faculty/faculty/fbios.html |title=NCCU – School of Law – Faculty Listings |publisher=Web.nccu.edu |date=January 31, 2010 |accessdate=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=June 10, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610155200/http://web.nccu.edu/law/faculty/faculty/fbios.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Academic career==
Silliman earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy at the University of North Carolina in 1965 followed by a J.D. degree in 1968.<ref name=MilBio/><ref name="autogeneratedcv">{{cite web |url=http://www.law.duke.edu/fac/cv/silliman_cv2.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2010-05-23 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610105630/http://www.law.duke.edu/fac/cv/silliman_cv2.pdf |archivedate=2010-06-10 }}</ref> While there he participated in the ROTC program. Upon graduation, he began a 25-year career as a military lawyer, in the United States Air Force. When he retired, in 1993, he joined the faculty at the Duke Law School. He was the first executive director of Duke's Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, a position he held for 18 years.
==Career== Silliman was a military attorney, called to active duty as an U.S. Air Force judge advocate in 1968, and later a staff judge advocate (senior attorney) and, in his last assignments, the senior attorney for Tactical Air Command<ref name="autogeneratedcv"/><ref name="autogenerated1993">{{cite web |url=http://www.law.duke.edu/fac/silliman/ |title=Scott L. Silliman |publisher=Law.duke.edu |date=August 31, 1993 |accessdate=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=June 9, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609193833/http://www.law.duke.edu/fac/silliman/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and later Air Combat Command.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=VP&p_theme=vp&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAFFC72DEF0DFEC&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |title=The Virginian-Pilot Archives |publisher=Nl.newsbank.com |date=May 16, 1999 |accessdate=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=June 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609045814/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=VP&p_theme=vp&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAFFC72DEF0DFEC&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="jaxdailyrecord1">{{cite web |last=Prior |first=Richard |url=http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=39812 |title=Balancing prosecution and protection – The Daily Record – Jacksonville, Florida |publisher=Jaxdailyrecord.com |date=September 11, 2001 |accessdate=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=July 13, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713092550/http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=39812 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1993, he retired from the Air Force as a colonel.<ref name="jaxdailyrecord1"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/518153/ |title=ProfNet Experts Round-Up: Detention of Terror Suspects |publisher=Newswise.com |date=February 16, 2006 |accessdate=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=June 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607153105/http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/518153/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Silliman is an expert on national security law,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/05/AR2008120500309.html?hpid=moreheadlines |title=Contractors Indicted After Probe Into Shooting That Killed 17 Iraqi Civilians |work=washingtonpost.com |date=December 6, 2008 |accessdate=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=November 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110152118/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/05/AR2008120500309.html?hpid=moreheadlines |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/washington/16fisa.html?ref=politics | work=The New York Times | title=Court Affirms Wiretapping Without Warrants | first1=James | last1=Risen | first2=Eric | last2=Lichtblau | date=January 16, 2009 | access-date=February 23, 2017 | archive-date=November 21, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121034341/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/washington/16fisa.html?ref=politics | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=10E14FCA54205800&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM | work=Philadelphia Inquirer | date=November 23, 2005 | title=Charges shift the fight on Padilla, He is indicted, but not in the "dirty bomber"case. Some say Justice was aiming to avoid a defeat. | access-date=May 23, 2010 | archive-date=June 9, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609050131/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=10E14FCA54205800&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/01/washington/01mukasey.html?pagewanted=all | work=The New York Times | title=Nominee's Stand May Avoid Tangle of Torture Cases | first=Scott | last=Shane | date=November 1, 2007 | access-date=February 23, 2017 | archive-date=December 4, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161204093711/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/01/washington/01mukasey.html?pagewanted=all | url-status=live }}</ref> military law,<ref>{{cite web |author=Heard on All Things Considered |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=5014021 |title=Guantanamo Case Awaits High Court Ruling |publisher=NPR |date=November 15, 2005 |accessdate=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=April 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407081412/http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=5014021 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/cgi-bin/common/printfriendly.pl?http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/content/2005/s1509545.htm |title=Correspondents Report – Hicks in legal limbo |publisher=Abc.net.au |date= |accessdate=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=November 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111054456/http://www.abc.net.au/cgi-bin/common/printfriendly.pl?http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.au%2Fcorrespondents%2Fcontent%2F2005%2Fs1509545.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author= |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna26672984 |title=Army: Failures in pregnant soldier's death - Military- NBC News |publisher=NBC News |date=September 12, 2008 |access-date=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=April 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407195332/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/26672984/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/nov/10/obama-guantanamo-bay-prison |title=Obama legal advisers draft plans for Guantánamo Bay prison | World news | guardian.co.uk |publisher=Guardian |date=November 10, 2008 |accessdate=May 23, 2010 |location=London |archive-date=September 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130904055523/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/nov/10/obama-guantanamo-bay-prison |url-status=live }}</ref> and the law of armed conflict.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/05/09/snipers/print.html |title=News | Killing by the numbers |work=Salon.com |date= 9 May 2008|accessdate=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=May 4, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504103502/http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/05/09/snipers/print.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="nytimes1">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/cfr/international/slot3_012506.html?pagewanted=print | work=The New York Times | title=Q&A: Targeted Killings | first=Eben | last=Kaplan | date=January 25, 2006 | access-date=February 23, 2017 | archive-date=February 2, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202235637/http://www.nytimes.com/cfr/international/slot3_012506.html?pagewanted=print | url-status=live }}</ref>
His views have been cited in various media, including by ''The New York Times'',<ref name="nytimes1"/><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/world/americas/16iht-tap.1.19422049.html | work=The New York Times | first1=James | last1=Risen | first2=Eric | last2=Lichtblau | date=January 16, 2009 | title=Court ruling buoys case for wiretaps | access-date=February 23, 2017 | archive-date=November 21, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121041504/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/world/americas/16iht-tap.1.19422049.html | url-status=live }}</ref> ''The Washington Post'',<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/01/AR2008110102018.html?hpid=topnews |title=Cases Against Detainees Have Thinned |work=washingtonpost.com |date=November 2, 2008 |accessdate=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=November 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110152101/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/01/AR2008110102018.html?hpid=topnews |url-status=live }}</ref> ''The Boston Globe'',<ref>{{cite news |last=Vicini |first=James |url=http://archive.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/10/01/new_terrorism_trial_rules_could_face_supreme_court_scrutiny/ |title=New terrorism trial rules could face Supreme Court scrutiny – The Boston Globe |publisher=Boston.com |date=October 1, 2006 |access-date=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=July 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726224414/http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/10/01/new_terrorism_trial_rules_could_face_supreme_court_scrutiny/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ''The Christian Science Monitor'',<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2009/1215/Guantanamo-detainees-on-US-soil-a-legal-minefield |title=Guantanamo detainees on US soil: a legal minefield |publisher=CSMonitor.com |date=December 15, 2009 |accessdate=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=July 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726195415/http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2009/1215/Guantanamo-detainees-on-US-soil-a-legal-minefield |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Newsweek'',<ref>{{cite web |author=Michael Hirsh |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/151130 |title=Hirsh: Why the Hamdan Verdict is Big Loss for Bush – Michael Hirsh |publisher=Newsweek.com |date=5 August 2008 |accessdate=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=2 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202104145/http://www.newsweek.com/id/151130 |url-status=live }}</ref> ''The Guardian'',<ref>{{cite news |author=Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/nov/11/guantanamo-obama-white-house |title=Closing down detention centre 'not so easy' | World news |work=The Guardian |date=November 11, 2008 |accessdate=May 23, 2010 |location=London |archive-date=September 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130904055703/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/nov/11/guantanamo-obama-white-house |url-status=live }}</ref> NPR,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123747151 |title=Terrorism Trials Pose Dilemma For U.S. |publisher=NPR |date=February 15, 2010 |accessdate=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=April 24, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100424021057/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123747151 |url-status=live }}</ref> ''USA Today'', and the ''New York Daily News''. In 2012 Silliman was appointed by then President Obama and later confirmed by the Senate as an appellate judge on the US Court of Military Commission Review, (USMCRC), a blue ribbon panel created solely to review rulings and verdicts from the Guantanamo Military Commissions.<ref name=MilBio/>
During the final part of the rescue of the crew of Maersk Alabama three of the four pirates retreated to the vessel's lifeboat, taking the Captain as a hostage, together with $30,000 from the ship's safe.<ref name=Fox2013-10-11/> According to widely publicized accounts of the Captain's rescue, when snipers heard a firearms discharge, on the lifeboat, three snipers each killed one of the pirates with a single shot. It emerged, during the trial of the remaining pirate, that the Captain could hear the labored breathing of at least one injured pirate. During the trial Philip L. Weinstein said that an expert on firearms wounds who examined photos of the dead pirates said they had been shot 19 times. Weinstein argued that the SEALS had violated their obligations, under the Geneva Conventions, to refrain from further injuring enemy combatants, who were too injured to further participate in hostilities. According to ''Fox News'' Silliman defended the SEALs, stating that "the SEALs had to make the assumption that the Somalis were armed and a continuing threat. In other words, they were still combatants."<ref name=Fox2013-10-11/>
An opinion Silliman offered on the guilt of Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, and his four co-defendants, in the 9-11 Guantanamo Military Commission triggered a civilian appeals court to overrule the USCMCR.<ref name=JustSecurity2017-08-09/> The civilian appeals court agreed with the defendants that since Silliman had voiced an opinion, in a 2010 telephone interview with the BBC two years before he was appointed to the court, that the five were guilty, that he was biased, and should have recused himself.
==Works==
===Select articles=== *"Robinson O. Everett and National Security", 59 ''DUKE L. J.'' 1447 (2010) *"Prosecuting Alleged Terrorists by Military Commission: A Prudent Option", 42 ''CASE W. RES. J. INT'L L.'' 289 (2009) *"On Military Commissions", 36 ''CASE W. RES. J. INT'L L.'' 529 (2004) *"[https://archive.today/20041204221127/http://dukemagazine.duke.edu/dukemag/issues/091004/depgar.html Troubling Questions in Interrogating Terrorists]", 90 ''DUKE MAG.'', September–October 2004 *"Detaining Terrorists at Guantanamo Bay: Questions of Law and Policy", 25 ''NAT'L SEC. L. REP.'' 1 (2003) *"The Iraqi Quagmire: Enforcing the No-Fly Zones", 36 ''NEW ENG. L. REV.'' 767 (2002)
===Testimony to the Senate=== *[https://fas.org/irp/congress/2006_hr/071106silliman.html Testimony on ''Hamdan v. Rumsfield'': Establishing a Constitutional Process"], U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, July 11, 2006
==Major service awards==
*Legion of Merit *Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters *Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster
==References== {{Reflist|30em|refs= <ref name=MilBio>{{cite news |url = http://www.mc.mil/Portals/0/pdfs/Professor%20Scott%20Silliman%20Bio%20%28Oct%207,%202014%29.pdf |title = Professor Scott Silliman, Duke Law School |work = US Department of Defense |author = |date = 2014-10-07 |page = |location = |accessdate = 2017-08-12 |quote = Besides teaching at the law school, he served as Executive Director of Duke's Center on Law, Ethics and National Security from its inception in 1993 until July 2011, and now serves as its Director Emeritus. |archive-date = 2016-12-25 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161225015922/https://www.mc.mil/Portals/0/pdfs/Professor%20Scott%20Silliman%20Bio%20%28Oct%207%2C%202014%29.pdf |url-status = live }}</ref>
<ref name=JustSecurity2017-08-09>{{cite news |url = https://www.justsecurity.org/44028/d-c-circuit-holds-911-appellate-judge-recused/ |title = D.C. Circuit Holds that 9/11 Appellate Judge Should Have Recused |work = Just Security |author = Steve Vladeck |author-link = Steve Vladeck |date = 2017-08-09 |page = |location = |accessdate = 2017-08-12 |quote = |archive-date = 2017-08-09 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170809165812/https://www.justsecurity.org/44028/d-c-circuit-holds-911-appellate-judge-recused/ |url-status = live }}</ref>
<ref name=Fox2013-10-11>{{cite news | url = https://www.foxnews.com/us/30g-went-missing-in-seal-rescue-of-capt-phillips-seals-given-polygraph-test | title = $30G went missing in SEAL rescue of Capt. Phillips; SEALs given polygraph test | work = Fox News | author = | date = 2013-10-11 | page = | location = | access-date = 2017-08-12 | quote = | archive-date = 2017-09-24 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170924044947/http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/11/30g-went-missing-in-seal-rescue-capt-phillips-seals-given-lie-detector-test.html | url-status = live }}</ref> }}
==External links== *[http://www.law.duke.edu/fac/silliman/ Duke bio] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100610105630/http://www.law.duke.edu/fac/cv/silliman_cv2.pdf Silliman CV]
{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=William Coleman}} {{s-ttl|title=Judge of the United States Court of Military Commission Review|years=2012–present}} {{s-inc}} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silliman, Scott}} Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:American political scientists Category:Duke University School of Law faculty Category:North Carolina Central University faculty Category:United States Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty Category:Judges of the United States Court of Military Commission Review Category:United States Article I federal judges appointed by Barack Obama