Charles Swift Charles D . Swift ( born 1961 ) is an attorney and former career Navy officer , who retired in 2007 as a Lieutenant Commander in the Judge Advocate General ' s Corps . He is most noted for having served as defense counsel for Salim Ahmed Hamdan , a detainee from Yemen who was the first to be charged at Guantanamo Bay ; Swift took his case to the US Supreme Court . In 2005 and June 2006 , the " National Law Journal " recognized Swift as one of the top lawyers nationally because of his work on behalf of justice for the detainees . Swift used the civil courts to challenge the constitutionality of the military tribunals and the legal treatment of detainees in " Hamdan v . Rumsfeld " ( 2006 ) , a case that went to the US Supreme Court and was decided in his client ' s favor . As a result , Congress passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 to authorize a form of military tribunals and incorporate the Court ' s concerns about reconciliation with the US Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Conventions . During his Navy career , Swift served in a variety of assignments , including at sea . After several years , he was approved to attend law school and , after graduation , in 1994 became a member of the Navy ' s legal corps . In 2003 , he was assigned to the Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions , serving into early 2007 . There he was assigned as defense counsel to Salim Ahmed Hamdan . Because of his challenges , Swift was helping make the law on detainee treatment in the war on terror . In June 2006 , Swift learned he had been " passed over " by the Navy ( a second time ) for promotion ; as a result , under the military ' s " up or out " system , he had to retire in the spring of 2007 . He learned of being passed over two weeks after the Supreme Court decided in Hamdan ' s favor , and intended to continue defending Hamdan as a civilian . From 2007 through 2008 , Swift taught at Emory Law School as a Visiting Associate Professor and Acting Director of its newly established International Humanitarian Law Clinic . Hamdan was convicted of one of his charges in 2008 but credited for time detained . He was returned to Yemen in 2008 . Swift worked to appeal his conviction . In October 2012 , Hamdan was acquitted of all charges in the US Appeals Court of the District of Columbia . Early life and education . Born in 1961 , Charles Swift is a native of Franklin , North Carolina . He went to local schools and gained an appointment and admission to the U . S . Naval Academy . Navy career . Following his graduation in 1984 , Swift served in a variety of surface warfare billets as described in the below table . In 1991 , he left active service to attend Seattle University School of Law , as authorized by the Navy , where he graduated " cum laude . " Resuming active service in 1994 , he affiliated with the Navy ’ s Judge Advocate General ' s Corps ( 1994 – present ) . A comprehensive biography can be found here ( website for the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy , different from LCDR Swift ' s commissioning source ) . Summary of LCDR Swift ' s assignments : US Supreme Court case . The US Navy lawyer successfully represented the plaintiff Guantanamo detainee in " Hamdan v . Rumsfeld " ( 2006 ) and took his case to the US Supreme Court . Hamdan , a former driver for Osama bin Laden , was captured during the US invasion of Afghanistan , and held from 2002 at Guantanamo Bay detention camp . He was charged in July 2004 with conspiracy to commit terrorism . As Hamdan ' s legal counsel , Swift was assisted in the defense by the Seattle law firm of Perkins Coie and Neal Katyal , a Georgetown University Law Professor . They appealed Hamdan ' s writ of habeas corpus petition to the US Supreme Court . In " Hamdan v . Rumsfeld " , 548 U . S . 557 , 126 S . Ct . 2749 ( 2006 ) , the Court ruled that the military commission to try Hamdan was illegal and violated the Geneva Conventions as well as the United States Uniform Code of Military Justice ( UCMJ ) . It held that Congress needed to authorize a process for detainee tribunals . The court ruled that the military commissions as established by the Dept . of Defense were flawed and illegal according to the US Uniform Code of Military Justice and Geneva Convention . As a result , the administration requested , and Congress passed , the Military Commissions Act of 2006 , to authorize a form of military tribunals to try the detainee cases . The president signed the law October 17 , 2006 . Beginning in 2007 , Hamdan was charged under the new law and in 2008 tried by a military jury of the Military Commissions . It acquitted him of conspiracy for terrorism but convicted him of assisting efforts . It sentenced him to five and a half years , crediting him for the time he had already been detained . In November 2008 , the US transferred Hamdan to Yemen , where he served the last month of his sentence . After release , he rejoined his family in Sana . In October 2012 , the US Appeals Court of the District of Columbia acquitted him of all charges . Forced retirement . In June 2006 , Swift learned that he would be forced to retire from the Navy , as he had not been promoted to commander but " passed over " a second time . The Navy has an " up or out " promotion policy . , for a second time had not been selected for promotion . He left the military that spring , the Associated Press reported . Lt . Cmdr . Charles Swift , who has worked in the Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions since 2003 , said he learned about two weeks after the Hamdan decision that he would not receive a promotion to commander . Media such as the " New York Times " and " Vanity Fair magazine " reported that the timing was not a coincidence and suggested it was politically motivated . The Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Air Force , Charles J . Dunlap Jr . , later said that suggestion was without evidence . From fall 2007 to spring 2008 , Swift taught at Emory Law School as a Visiting Associate Professor and Acting Director of its newly established International Humanitarian Law Clinic . Honors . His decorations and medals include :