With liberty and justice for all. Those words do have meaning.

About one-quarter of the civil appellate lawyers in the U.S. Justice Department have refused to get involved in appeals by Guantanamo detainees.

Sources told U.S. News & World Report the lawyers are not convinced by the government’s legal arguments.

A court ruling in February that upheld the Military Commissions Act put all appeals from Guantanamo in the District of Columbia circuit, making the 56 lawyers in the appellate division responsible for fighting them. Article

More:

These conscientious objectors–their exact number is not known–have decided not to take part in the government’s litigation against the detainees because of disagreements with the legal approach, these sources say. They would not elaborate on the specific reasons for the objections, but critics have long objected to the government’s failure to formally charge detainees and have pushed for closing Guantánamo because of allegations of torture and inhumane conditions. Defense lawyers also contend that the government has stymied their cases by withholding documents and curbing client access.

The quiet rebellion has emerged in recent months among the approximately 56 attorneys in the appellate section of the Justice Department’s civil division following a court ruling in February that placed the defense of the approximately 130 remaining Guantánamo cases under the responsibility of the appellate lawyers. More than 300 men captured shortly after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 are still being held at Guantánamo over alleged ties to terrorists, although all but a handful have never been formally charged with crimes.

Though the objectors have created some tension among the appellate staff, it’s unclear that their opposition has hampered the government’s efforts–especially because the court ruling will be reviewed by the Supreme Court this term. But the staff attorneys’ objections highlight how dissension has grown even within the department’s own ranks.

Justice Department spokesperson Charles Miller declined comment.

The Justice Department has no formal policy allowing attorneys to opt out of certain cases, unlike some law firms that make clear they won’t penalize associates who, for instance, choose not to defend tobacco companies. But, informally, attorneys have rejected certain types of cases. Article