In January 2025, on behalf of the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT), the oldest and largest torture rehabilitation organization in the United States, Katya Jestin, Matthew Hellman, Ian Moss, and Mary-Claire Spurgin filed an amicus brief in support of a petition for mandamus to the DC Circuit. The amicus brief advocated for the reinstatement of plea agreements entered by the accused co-conspirators of the 9/11 attacks in the 9/11 Guantanamo Military Commission case. In August 2024, the plea agreements were unilaterally withdrawn by then Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, which resulted in litigation before the DC circuit seeking their reinstatement. CVT argued that reinstatement of the guilty pleas and associated agreements were in the public interest and the best way to achieve judicial finality for all parties involved given that the 9/11 case has been mired in seemingly interminable pre-trial litigation related to the well-documented torture of the accused 9/11 co-conspirators while in U.S. custody. CVT argued that the plea agreements served as the best path to achieve a modicum of justice for 9/11 victim family members and society, while also providing accountability for the torture of the accused by U.S. personnel.
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