Charles Swift

Charles Swift is the Director of Constitutional Law Center for Muslims in America. He was named by National Law Review as one of the top 100 legal minds in the nation. He is a retired Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy, Judge Advocate General’s Corps.Charles was involved in litigation in some of the highest profile cases in the U.S. military, from defense of the Navy’s use of the Vieques bombing range in Puerto Rico against environmental litigation, to defending senior military officers in complex criminal cases.  He is most known for winning the U.S. Supreme Court case Hamdan v. Rumsfield for his client, Salim Ahmed Hamdan.

Following his military career, Charles was a visiting professor and head of the Humanitarian Law Clinic at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia, before leaving to enter private practice in Seattle.

Charles has been a regular contributor on the topics of military law and terrorism for national news programs including MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, NPR, and Fox News. Charles is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, a cum laude graduate of Seattle University School of Law, and holds a Master’s Degree with honors in Trial Advocacy from Temple University. He has received numerous awards for his advocacy, including recognition as a Distinguished Alumnus at Seattle University School of Law, ACLU’s Roger Baldwin Medal for Distinguished Service, and was runner-up for Lawyer of the Year in 2005 as well as being named one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in 2006 by the National Law Journal. Full bio on clcma.org