Steven H. David (born 1957) is a former justice of the

Indiana Supreme Court The Indiana Supreme Court, established by Article 7 of the Indiana Constitution, is the highest judicial authority in the state of Indiana. Located in Indianapolis, the Court's chambers are in the north wing of the Indiana Statehouse. In Dec ...

. David previously served as a lawyer and military officer. He retired from the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

in September 2010 with the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Biography

Justice David was born in

Allen County, Indiana Allen County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 385,410, making it the List of counties in Indiana, third-most populous county in Indiana. The county seat and largest city is Fort Wayne, Indiana, ...

, and raised in

Bartholomew County, Indiana Bartholomew County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 82,208 at the 2020 census. The county seat is Columbus. The county was determined by the U.S. Census Bureau to be home to the mean center of U.S. popul ...

Education

He graduated magna cum laude from

Murray State University Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky, in the Southern United States. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper-level an ...

as a Distinguished Military Graduate on an R.O.T.C. scholarship. He earned his law degree from Robert H. McKinney School of Law. He is also a graduate of the Indiana Judicial College and the Graduate Program for Indiana Judges. Oral argument at Lebanon High School

Legal career

Justice David's civilian legal career began in Columbus, Indiana, where he focused on personal injury, family law, and civil litigation. He later became in-house counsel for Mayflower Transit, Inc., before moving to Boone County where he was elected Circuit Court Judge. As a trial court judge, he presided over civil, criminal, family, and juvenile matters. David served as a Chief Defense Counsel for prisoners at the

Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by p ...

when they were tried by the

Guantanamo military commission The Guantanamo military commissions were established by President George W. Bush through a military order on November 13, 2001, to try certain non-citizen terrorism suspects at the Guantanamo Bay prison. To date, there have been a total of eight ...

. While serving in that capacity, David complained in 2008 that he lacked sufficient defense lawyers and other resources to defend the prisoners. David personally represented

Salim Ahmed Hamdan Salim Ahmed Salim Hamdan (; born February 25, 1968) is a Yemeni man, captured during the invasion of Afghanistan, declared by the United States government to be an illegal enemy combatant and held as a detainee at Guantanamo Bay from 2002 to No ...

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

's driver. After the commission convicted Hamdan, David broadly criticized the commission's loose procedures, including acceptance of

hearsay Hearsay, in a legal forum, is an out-of-court statement which is being offered in court for the truth of what was asserted. In most courts, hearsay evidence is Inadmissible evidence, inadmissible (the "hearsay evidence rule") unless an exception ...

and secret testimony, restrictions on media coverage, and suppression of evidence of abusive interrogations. He called for scrapping the commission system. In October 2010, Indiana Governor

Mitch Daniels Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr. (born April 7, 1949) is an American Academic administration, academic administrator, businessman, author, and retired politician who served as the 49th governor of Indiana from 2005 to 2013. A Republican Party (United ...

appointed David to the

. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. David retired on August 31, 2022.

Notable opinion

David wrote the majority opinion i
''Barnes vs. Indiana''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:David, Steven 1957 births Living people 21st-century American judges Guantanamo Bay attorneys Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law alumni Justices of the Indiana Supreme Court Murray State University alumni People from Allen County, Indiana United States Army officers