2008 ABA Annual Meeting
Thousands of members of the legal community gathered in midtown Manhattan for the ABA Annual Meeting from Aug. 7 - 12. Section highlights during the event included the 17th annual Thurgood Marshall Award dinner, the election of new Section officers, and 6 section-sponsored CLE programs.
Section Honors a Champion of Individual Rights
NEW YORK, Aug. 9, 2008 - the Section presented the 2008 Thurgood Marshall Award to U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner, recognizing over four decades of service on her part to the cause of individual rights.
- Hon. Nancy Gertner: "Judge in a Time of Retrenchment" (acceptance speech)
- Photo gallery - coming soon
- About the Thurgood Marshall Award
The nominations process for the 2009 Thurgood Marshall Award will be announced shortly.
IRR Elects New Officers
As Neal Sonnett formally took over the Council Chair position, the Section of Individual Rights & Responsibilities elected a new class of officers for the coming year. Richard Podell will serve as Chair-Elect, C. Elisia Frazier as Vice Chair, Kay Hodge as Secretary, James Silkenat as Financial Officer, and Mark Agrast as Section Delegate. Richard Foltin, Shelley Hayes, William Kaneko and Jodi Levine were elected to three-year Council positions. Roy Hammer was chosen to fill a one-year unexpired term on Council, and Jerome Reide was elected for a two-year unexpired term.
For a full list of Council and Executive Committee members, please see the Leadership page.
Annual Meeting CLE Materials
Use the links below to download materials for Section-sponsored Annual Meeting CLE:
After Boumediene v. Bush: Habeas, Detainees, and Military Commissions
Download materials
View recording (streaming video)
Download MP3
Concerns of Tribes in New York
Download materials
Enforcing Immigrants' Rights in Detention
Download materials
Heaven Can't Wait: Issues in Religious Accommodation
Download materials
The Last Thing Hanging in the Closet: Legal Assistance for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Domestic Violence Victims
Download materials
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 60: Advancing Human Rights in a Dangerous World
Download materials
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...)
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
Held on July 23, 2008
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.
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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
