ABA/IRR E-Newsletter

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Father Robert Drinan, S.J., Chair of the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities from 1990-91 and Professor at the Georgetown Law Center, passed away in Washington on Sunday, January 28. His unflagging commitment to the causes of human rights, civil rights and human dignity is an exemplar for us all. His courageous voice has championed these causes in public and in private and it is up to us, to continue this work in the spirit in which he did.

We will celebrate the life and work of our friend and former chair at the Section's annual Father Robert Drinan award reception at the 2007 ABA mid year meeting on February 9 at 5:30 p.m. (see more details below). Please join us.

Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte, former ABA President and current member of the Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation State Assessment Project Steering Committee, has been selected as the recipient of the Section's 2007 Father Robert F. Drinan Distinguished Service Award.

Established in 2001, and named for the late 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, Hon. Cruz Reynoso, and Jerome J. Shestack.

The Drinan Award will be presented at a reception in the Hyatt Regency, Brickell Room, Terrace Level at 5:30 p.m., on Friday, Feb. 9, during the ABA's 2007 Midyear Meeting in Miami, Fla. For more information regarding the reception, contact the Section office.

In addition to the Section's Council and Committee meetings on Feb. 8 and 9 at the 2007 Midyear Meeting in Miami, the Section will also present a Report with Recommendation to the ABA House of Delegates and hold a CLE program.

The ABA House of Delegates will consider a Section-sponsored Report with Recommendation. It seeks to amend the ABA's Goal IX to address issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Currently, Goal IX includes only minorities, women, and persons with disabilities. The full Report with Recommendations can be viewed below:

The Section also will sponsor a program on Fri., Feb. 9, from 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. in Pearson Rooms I & II at the Miami Hyatt Regency. The program is entitled "The State of Education in the U.S.: K-12, and will examine the impact of No Child Left Behind on its fifth anniversary. Panelists include

The Section will hold its first Civil Rights, Civil Liberties, and Social Justice Summit on April 16-17, 2007, at the Human Rights Campaign Conference Center, 1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W. in Washington, D.C. The Summit will bring together ABA, state, local, and minority bar leaders to address common issues of concern. Check the Section website at http://www.abanet.org/irr for additional details and to register.

On April 11 & 12, 2007, in Washington, DC, the ABA AIDS Coordinating Committee will host a town hall meeting on "AIDS, Color and Equality: Removing Barriers to HIV Prevention." The multidisciplinary meeting of experts, advocates, and community leaders will examine the social, political, medical, and legal circumstances surrounding the disproportionate impact of HIV infection among minority populations and explore how barriers to HIV prevention can be dismantled.

“The District of Columbia leads the nation in the AIDS death rate, with injection drug use the leading cause of HIV transmission,” notes Shelley Hayes, Chair of the Committee. “Nearly a decade ago, the American Bar Association, citing science-based public health objectives and emphasizing its longstanding opposition to substance abuse, called for the removal of legal barriers to the establishment and operation of approved needle exchange programs that include a component of drug counseling and drug treatment referral. Yet, in the District and many other jurisdictions nationwide, barriers persist. Not surprisingly, so do new HIV infections. The District therefore is a fitting place, and the ABA a fitting organization, to hold a serious, multi-disciplinary, public meeting on this and other barriers to HIV prevention in communities of color.”

For more information and updates about the town hall meeting and other AIDS Coordinating Committee programs and projects, visit http://www.abanet.org/AIDS/ or contact the ABA AIDS Coordination Project at 202/662-1025.

Admission to the Town Hall Meeting is free, but space is limited. Students click here to register (deadline March 28); others (including law students), click here (deadline April 4).

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.

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