Register Now for the Thurgood Marshall Award Dinner
Individual tickets and tables are now available for the 16th annual Thurgood Marshall Award Dinner, honoring Judge Nancy Gertner of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Please visit the Thurgood Marshall Award Dinner page for more information on tickets and sponsorship opportunities. See below for more information on Judge Gertner and the Thurgood Marshall Award.
2008 ABA Annual Meeting
On Aug. 7, thousands of attorneys will convene in New York City for the American Bar Association’s 2008 Annual Meeting. ABA members and leadership, as well as representatives from other state, local and specialty bar associations will be present for the five-day conference, regarded as the premier gathering of legal professionals in the United States. Programming at the event will include over 200 CLE course offerings; numerous ABA entity meetings and award ceremonies; meetings of the House of Delegates and Board of Governors; and the ABA EXPO, showcasing a plethora of legal products and services. Section programming during the conference will include the Thurgood Marshall Award; a series of CLE and public panels on current topics; and ongoing meetings of the Section Council, committees and projects.
Meetings and Receptions
(click to view / hide)
Section Programming
(click to view / hide)
Co-Sponsored Programs
(click to view / hide)
For program details and to register, please visit the 2008 Annual Meeting page.
New York attorneys may be eligible for discounted registration and CLE course fees.
Please contact the Section for details.
Upcoming Events
- ABA Annual Meeting
Aug. 7-12, New York, NY - NLGLA Lavender Law Conference
Sept. 4-6, San Francisco, CA - National Training Institute on Civil Legal Remedies for Victims of Human Trafficking
Oct. 2-3, Washington, D.C.
Featured Article
Preventing Abuse of the State Secrets Privilege
by Gregory T. Nojeim and Daniel G. Jarcho
Khaled el-Masri, a German citizen of Lebanese descent, claimed that he was illegally kidnapped by agents of the Central Intelligence Agency who mistook him for a terrorist with a similar name. He alleged that he was flown from Macedonia to Kabul, Afghanistan on a CIA plane, and there was detained for five months. He further alleged that during his detention, he was beaten, drugged, blindfolded, interrogated harshly and repeatedly, and barred from contacting anyone on the outside. At the end of the period, according to El-Masri, he was flown to Albania, and released in the middle of nowhere with just enough cash to purchase an airplane ticket back to his home in Germany. He claims that his kidnapping was part of the extraordinary rendition program run by the CIA – and acknowledged by President Bush – under which suspected terrorists are “rendered” to foreign countries for interrogation. A report to the Council of Europe, which was investigating the involvement of European countries in the CIA “extraordinary rendition” program, concluded that El-Masri’s claims were largely accurate. (read more...)
Section News
Section to Honor a Champion of Individual Rights
On Aug. 9, 2008, the Section will present Judge Nancy Gertner with the Thurgood Marshall Award in recognition for her outstanding work and enduring contributions to the advancement of civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights in the United States. The award will be presented at a ceremony during the ABA Annual Meeting in New York.
From her early years as a criminal justice attorney, Judge Gertner built a reputation of taking on difficult and occasionally high-profile criminal and civil rights cases. During her illustrious career, she has litigated every major abortion case in the state of Massachusetts, culminating with Moe v. Secretary of Administration and Finance, which ended in a decision guaranteeing a woman’s right to choose under the Massachusetts State Constitution.
Appointed in 1993 to the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts by President Clinton, she continued her legacy on the bench. Over the past 15 years, Judge Gertner has handed down critical decisions in cases regarding school integration, wrongful conviction, and capital justice standards.
Established by the American Bar Association in 1992, the Thurgood Marshall Award is named for U. S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who received the inaugural award. Justice Marshall’s life work epitomized individual commitment, in word and action, to the cause of civil rights in this country. Judge Gertner joins a short list of attorneys and judges who have embodied Justice Marshall’s lasting legacy.
ABA Files Section-Sponsored Brief in Two More Habeas Cases
Feb. 28, 2008 - The ABA filed a brief of amicus curiae today in the consolidated cases of Munaf v. Geren and Geren v. Omar, concerning two American citizens currently being detained in Iraq by the U.S. military. At issue is whether a U.S. citizen being detained by U.S. military forces may invoke the writ of habeas corpus following conviction or pending charges by Iraqi courts. Read the brief here.
IR&R Presents Martha Barnett with Drinan Award
On Friday, Feb. 8, Former ABA President and Section Chair Martha Barnett was presented with the 2008 Father Robert F. Drinan Distinguished Service Award during a ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Century City Hotel in Los Angeles, Calif. She was honored for her sustained commitment to the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities and its mission of providing leadership to the legal profession in protecting and advancing human rights, civil liberties, and social justice.
Under Martha’s leadership as Section Chair in 1983-1984, the Section successfully sponsored or developed ABA policies endorsing amendments to Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to define private clubs receiving substantial income from business sources as public accommodations, thereby banning discrimination against women in such clubs; to preserve the right of judicial review for immigrants subjected to the president’s exercise of emergency powers; to restore justice to Japanese Americans detained in concentration camps during World War II; and to increase the participation of women and minorities in all levels of the ABA. (read more...)
Section Awarded Highest Honors in ABA Goal IX Report
The Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities was recently given Highest Honors designation by the Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law. IRR was recognized for its ongoing commitment to the inclusion of lawyers with disabilities into the profession, as well as the Section's work to help create the National Association of Law Students with Disabilities in 2006.
ABA entities that best demonstrate the organization's commitment to lawyers with disabilities are named to "Honor Roll" or "Highest Honors" status within the Commission's 2008 Goal IX Report. The Report presents information about the participation of persons with disabilities, as well as women and racial minorities, in ABA Division, Section, and Forum leadership positions.
Project News
| April 9-10, 2008: | HIV/AIDS Law and Practice Conference - Dallas, Tex. The ABA AIDS Coordinating Committee, chaired by Shelley D. Hayes of Washington, DC, will host a national continuing legal education (CLE) conference on HIV/AIDS Law and Practice: From Local Client to Global Workforce, at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Tex. The conference will examine a broad range of cutting-edge domestic and international issues in HIV/AIDS law, with an additional focus on the pandemic’s impact on the private sector and the pivotal role the business community (including corporate counsel) can play in stemming the spread of HIV. Ambassador Mark R. Dybul, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, will give a keynote address on April 9. Registration for the conference (or for individual sessions, if desired) is now open via the Committee’s web site. |
Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project
| Oct. 29, 2007: | Panel Presents Key Findings of the State Assessment Project
|
About IRR
Created in 1966, the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities provides leadership within the ABA and the legal profession in protecting and advancing human rights, civil liberties, and social justice. The Section fulfills this role in two ways - by raising and addressing often complex and difficult civil rights and civil liberties issues in a changing and diverse society, and by ensuring that protection of individual rights remains a focus of legal and policy decisions. Read more...
CLE Teleconferences
Homeland Security
in Indian Country
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
1:00pm - 2:30pm ET
Mental Illness and the Death Penalty: New Hope For Those Threatened with Execution
Held on June 3, 2008
Religion, Children and Public Schools: Contemporary First Amendment Problems
Held on May 14, 2008
Join Us!
By becoming a member of the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, you will connect with a dynamic network of peers working to advance civil rights and social justice.
Additionally, IRR has 16 committees for those who would like to get involved in the Section's substantive work.
Human Rights Magazine
Each of our Section members receives a subscription to Human Rights, our award-winning quarterly magazine. For decades, it has been a trusted source of expert ideas, opinions, and discourse on a diverse array of topics in the human and civil rights arena. Take a look.
IRR News Report
In addition to Human Rights, we publish a quarterly newsletter with internal Section updates, event information, legislative and Supreme Court news of interest, and more. A print subscription is included with Section membership and the ABA Package Plan. The public may access an electronic version of the most recent issue or browse through the online archive of back issues.
Continuing Legal Education
We offer a series of CLE programs in CD audio format for purchase at the ABA web store. ABA and Section members are eligible for discounted rates on these materials.
Copyright Info
All information on these pages is copyright 2008 by the American Bar Association. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.
To request reprint permission please click here.
Contact Us
ABA Section of Individual Rights & Responsibilities
740 15th Street, NW, 10th Floor,
Washington, DC 20005-1009
Phone: (202) 662-1030
Fax: (202) 662-1031
