Ertel

Amy Ertel lives in a four-family brownstone near Hamilton Park, a historic neighborhood in Jersey City that is centered on a park of the same name.

Jersey City's Hamilton Park Lifts Appeal Maya Pope-Chappell 2011

"I'm getting a premium on my apartments now," said Ms. Ertel, a mother of two and the president of the Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association.

Jersey City's Hamilton Park Lifts Appeal Maya Pope-Chappell 2011

Fearing for their safety, Messrs. Vance and Ertel then barricaded themselves in a room at the security compound, called the embassy for help and were subsequently rescued by U.S. soldiers.

The Trial Bar Heads to Iraq 2010

Messrs. Vance and Ertel were employed by an Iraqi security contractor that the U.S. military suspected was aiding al Qaeda and arming death squads.

The Trial Bar Heads to Iraq 2010

Messrs. Vance and Ertel allege their confinement and interrogation were "tantamount to torture," including loud music, sensory deprivation, light control, yelling and interrogations that relied on "psychologically-disruptive and injurious techniques."

The Trial Bar Heads to Iraq 2010

More broadly, the political branches have control over national security, and Messrs. Vance and Ertel are asking the judiciary to rewrite the wartime policies that the Constitution vests in Congress and the President.

The Trial Bar Heads to Iraq 2010

To combat the suspected illegal activity, Vance and Ertel became unpaid informants to the FBI in Chicago and U.S. officials in Iraq.

Andy Thayer: Court Allows Torture Suit Against Rumsfeld 2010

Messrs. Vance and Ertel never availed themselves of this system which ends in courts martial or criminal penalties nor alleged any mistreatment while in custody.

The Trial Bar Heads to Iraq 2010

But after a few hours of interrogation and then rest at the U.S. embassy, the U.S. imprisoned Vance and Ertel, beginning their nightmarish imprisonment without habeus corpus.

Andy Thayer: Court Allows Torture Suit Against Rumsfeld 2010

While detained, Messrs. Vance and Ertel were fully protected under the Geneva Conventions and the legal framework of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which includes a rigorous process for reporting and remedying alleged prisoner abuses.

The Trial Bar Heads to Iraq 2010