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Section News

• Former Section Chair Jerome Shestack to Receive Drinan Service Award
• Section Presents Immigration Panel Series: “Fortress America: The State and Future of U.S. Immigration Law and Policy”
• Section Proposes ABA Policies on Federal Study and Native Hawaiian Sovereignty; Hosting Programs on Blacks in America and Health Care at 2006 Midyear Meeting
• 2006 HIV/AIDS Law & Practice Conference - Registration Now Open
• Results of Third Annual ABA Environmental Justice Essay Competition
• Special Election Fills Officer and Council Positions
• Section ’05-’06 Funding Appeal Underway
• Members in the News
• Upcoming Events
  

Jerome J. Shestack, who chaired the Section from 1969-70, has been selected as the recipient of the Section's 2006 Father Robert F. Drinan Distinguished Service Award.

Established in 2001, and named for past Section Chair and former Congressman Robert F. Drinan, the award honors individuals who have shown sustained and extraordinary commitment to the Section and its mission of providing leadership to the profession in preserving and advancing human rights, civil liberties, and social justice.  Previous recipients are Father Drinan, John H. Pickering, John J. Curtin, Marna Tucker, and Hon. Cruz Reynoso.

The Drinan Award will be presented at a reception in the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Grand Ballroom A, Gold Level, West Tower, on Friday, Feb. 10, during the ABA's 2006 Midyear Meeting in Chicago, Ill.  For more information regarding the reception, contact the Section office.

• Biography of Jerome J. Shestack

This month, the Section will begin a four-part panel series examining the merits & underlying principles of legislative proposals in the 109th Congress aimed at reforming the federal immigration system.  The series, "Fortress America: The State and Future of U.S. Immigration Law and Policy," will begin on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2006, with an overview discussion of the proposed reform.  Future programs will be held on January 26, February 2, and February 23, and will address asylum, detention and citizenship issues.

All panels will take place at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, from 8:30am to 10:00am.

• View Full Program Descriptions and Speakers

A full schedule of Section activities is planned for the ABA 2006 Midyear Meeting.

The ABA House of Delegates will consider two Section-sponsored Reports with Recommendations.  The first recommendation calls for the establishment of a federal Commission to study the consequences of slavery and post-slavery denial of equal justice.

• RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges the United States Congress to 1) create and appropriate funds for a Commission to study and make findings relating to the present day social, political, and economic consequences of both slavery and the denial thereafter of equal justice under law for persons of African descent living in the United States; and 2) authorize the Commission to propose public policies or governmental actions, if any, that may be appropriate to address such consequences.

The second recommendation urges the restoration of Native Hawaiian sovereignty.

• RESOLVED, that the American Bar Association urges Congress to pass legislation to establish a process to provide federal recognition and to restore self-determination to Native Hawaiians.
• FURTHER RESOLVED, that self-determination and self-governance are defined as an authority similar to that which American Indian and Alaska Native governments possess under the Constitution to govern and provide for the health, safety, and welfare of their members. 

The full Reports with Recommendations can be viewed below:

• Federal Study
• Native Hawaiian Sovereignty
• All Reports with Recommendations being considered by the ABA House of Delegates at the 2006 Midyear Meeting

The Section also will sponsor two programs during the meeting.

On Friday, Feb. 10, a program entitled, “From Dred Scott to Rosa Parks and Hurricane Katrina: Where Do We Go From Here? Constitutional Law Through the Eyes of Black America” is being held at the Hyatt Regency.  Panelists will examine historical and modern landmarks surrounding the treatment of Blacks in America and their implications for full franchisement under law.

On Saturday, Feb. 11, the Section will present a CLE program entitled, “A Luxury No Longer - Why the U.S. Needs a Right to Health Care.” Panelists will discuss domestic and international sources of health care law; compare and contrast the "right" to health versus "access" to health care; and explore ways to make the right to health care a legal reality in the United States.

Monday, Jan. 9, 2006, is the deadline for advance registration for the Midyear Meeting.  Members can register online or complete and fax a registration form available below.

• Full Section Schedule of Events
• Register Online for 2006 ABA Midyear Meeting
• Print a Faxable Registration Form
• 2006 ABA Midyear Meeting Home Page

Registration is now open for the third annual ABA HIV/AIDS Law & Practice Conference, set for May 19-20, 2006, at the Hilton Portland & Executive Tower in Portland, Oregon.  Local and national experts will lead interactive sessions addressing cutting-edge issues in Public Policy Advocacy; Social Security Practice; Litigation Strategies; Government and Private Insurance; HIV Discrimination in the Health Care Sector; Children, Adolescents, and Foster Care; the Future of HIV Legal Services; and other topics.  Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit will be available. 

This year’s conference is co-sponsored by the ABA Young Lawyers Division as part of its 2005-06 National Public Service Project.  To register for the conference, visit the AIDS Coordination Project website at: www.abanet.org/AIDS.   

The Section is pleased to announce the winners of the Third Annual ABA Environmental Justice Essay Competition on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA):

First Place - Uma Outka, NEPA and Environmental Justice: Integration, Implementation and Judicial Review

Second Place - Ayaka Sato, Has the Air Been Let Out of NEPA?: An Analysis of Senville v. Peters, A Case Involving Environmental Justice, NEPA, and Executive Order 13,274

This year's winner received a check for $1,000.00. The second place winner received $500.00.

The Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, the Section Committee on Environmental Justice, and the Section of Environment, Energy and Resources (who co-sponsored the contest) gratefully acknowledges the generous financial support for the contest of the law firm of Beveridge & Diamond, P.C., Benjamin Wilson, Esq., and Steven Herman, Esq.

Special elections were held during the Section’s Fall Council Meeting in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 28-29, 2005, to fill vacant Officer and Council positions.

Richard M. Macias of Los Angeles, Calif. was selected as the Section’s second Delegate, joining longtime Delegate C. Elisia Frazier.

Benjamin F. Wilson of Washington, D.C. and Gerald B. Gardner of West Hollywood, Calif. were selected as the Section’s two new minority-at-large Council members.

• Section Leadership

The Section has launched its annual appeal for support of Section activities and invites all members and friends to make tax-deductible contributions through the ABA Fund for Justice and Education (FJE).  Section supporters can contribute through two FJE funds. Contributions to the IRR Support Fund are used for new or ongoing Section initiatives.  Gifts to the Thurgood Marshall Individual Rights Fund help build the Section's long-term endowment fund.

For more information about how to contribute, please visit the Fund for Justice and Education home page at www.abanet.org/fje/contrib.html.

• Contribute directly to the Section

• The International Law Section of the District of Columbia Bar presented its 2005 Public Service Award to Georgetown University Law Center Professor and former Section Chair Robert F. Drinan, S.J.  The award is given annually to recognize significant contributions to the field of international law. Past recipients include the Center for Constitutional Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, and the International Rescue Committee. Drinan is the first individual to receive the honor.

• Section Council member Gloria J. Browne-Marshall's stage play, "My Juilliard," ran from Nov. 10 to Dec. 4 in New York City. In "My Juilliard," three generations of Black female artists are forced to confront family secrets when the matriarch, a former child prodigy, struggles with Alzheimer's disease.

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Fortress America: Immigration Panel Series

• January 12, 2006, "Fortress America: The State and Future of U.S. Immigration Law and Policy," National Press Club, Washington, DC

• January 26, 2006, “Fortress America: Asylum & Refugees” (including religious, child, and gay victims of persecution and torture), National Press Club, Washington, DC
• February 2, 2006, “Fortress America: The Billion-Dollar Issue of Detention & Removal,” National Press Club, Washington, DC
• February 23, 2006, “Fortress America: Dysfunctional DHS? Admission & Citizenship and Immigration Services,” National Press Club, Washington, DC
  • View Full Program Descriptions and Speakers

2006 ABA Midyear Meeting

• February 8-13, 2006, 2006 ABA Midyear Meeting, Chicago, Ill.
• Register for 2006 ABA Midyear Meeting
• February 10-11, 2006, Winter Council Meeting, Hyatt Regency, Chicago, Ill.
• February 10, 2006, Father Robert F. Drinan Distinguished Service Award Reception honoring Jerome Shestack, Hyatt Regency, Chicago, Ill.

May 5-6, 2006, Spring Council Meeting, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC

2006 ABA Annual Meeting

• August 3-8, 2006, 2006 ABA Annual Meeting, Honolulu, Hawaii
• Register for 2006 ABA Annual Meeting

• August 4-5, 2006, Summer Council Meeting, Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, Hawaii
• August 5, 2006, Thurgood Marshall Award Dinner, Honolulu, Hawaii