We encourage you to share this e-newsletter with friends and colleagues interested in civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights issues.

Section News

• Julius Chambers to Receive 2006 ABA Thurgood Marshall Award
• Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project Releases First State Assessment Report
• Nominations Sought for FY06-07 Section Leadership Positions
• Section Concludes Successful 2006 ABA Midyear Meeting
• Panel Series on Immigration Reform Well-Received by Media, Immigration Advocates
• Upcoming Section Events
  

Julius Chambers, veteran civil rights lawyer, activist, and educator, will receive the ABA’s 2006 Thurgood Marshall Award, to be presented on Saturday, Aug. 5, at the dinner to be held during the ABA Annual Meeting in Honolulu.

The Thurgood Marshall Award recognizes long-term contributions to the advancement of civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights in the United States. For more information about the award, the dinner, or this year's recipient contact the Section office (tel.: 202/662-1030) or visit the Section's website at www.abanet.org/irr.

• Biography of Julius Chambers
• Thurgood Marshall Award Home Page

The first state assessment report by the ABA Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project has been released. A team of experts from Georgia’s legal community has concluded that Georgia cannot ensure fairness and accuracy in every capital case, and a majority of the state team has recommended that Georgia impose a moratorium on both executions and death penalty prosecutions until it can do so.

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter has joined others in calling for a moratorium of the death penalty in Georgia to thoroughly examine its imposition.

The report is the first of sixteen states being assessed under the Project. The state assessments analyze the extent to which state systems comport with minimum standards of fairness and due process. Assessments are conducted by state-based teams composed of current or former judges, legislators, prosecutors, defense lawyers, bar association leaders, law school professors and others. In 1997, the ABA called on death penalty jurisdictions to cease executions until they conduct detailed studies of whether their capital punishment systems are fair, provide due process and are free of discrimination, and make necessary reforms.

• Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project Home Page
• Georgia Assessments Project Home Page
• Full Georgia Death Penalty Assessment Report (2.4 MB)
• Press Coverage of the Georgia Report

The 2006 Nominating Committee is set to recommend candidates for open Section Council positions in the 2006-07 ABA year. Past Section Chair Hon. Cruz Reynoso chairs the committee; other members include Council members Shelley D. Hayes, Richard J. Podell and Drucilla S. Ramey, Section Chair-elect Robert E. Stein ( ex officio), and a vacant position that will be filled later this month.

Section members will vote on the Committee’s slate at a luncheon to be held at noon on Friday, Aug. 4, 2006, at the Hilton Hawaiian Village during the 2006 ABA Annual Meeting in Honolulu. Under the Section’s bylaws, any Section member may nominate candidates other than those selected by the Nominating Committee by submitting a written statement of nomination, signed by one other member in addition to the member being nominated, to Section Chair Paul M. Igasaki or to Section Secretary Neal R. Sonnett at least six hours before the election. Nominations are not permitted from the floor at the time of election.

Section members interested in submitting a nomination for a Council position may contact any Nominating Committee member or Section Director Tanya Terrell-Collier.

Nominating Committee Members:

The ABA House of Delegates approved two Section-sponsored resolutions at the 2006 ABA Midyear Meeting in Chicago, Ill. The first resolution urges Congress to 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. It also urges Congress to authorize the Commission to propose public policies or governmental actions, if any, that may be appropriate to address such consequences.

The House also passed a resolution urging Congress to pass legislation to establish a process to provide federal recognition for a native Hawaiian governing entity. This would provide Native Hawaiians with authority similar to that already accorded to American Indian and Alaska Native governments.

The Section also co-sponsored successful resolutions addressing the placement of foster children regardless of the sexual orientation of the foster parents, multiple resolutions addressing immigration laws, and other issues.

Section-sponsored programs at the Midyear Meeting included one on constitutional law through the eyes of Black America, and another on the right to health care in the U.S.

Former Section Chair, Jerome J. Shestack, was honored with the 2006 Robert F. Drinan Award for Distinguished Service to the Section. The award recognizes individuals whose sustained commitment to the Section has advanced its mission of providing leadership to the legal profession in protecting and advancing human rights, civil liberties, and social justice.

• Section-sponsored resolution on a federal study of discrimination
• Section-sponsored resolution on Native Hawaiian sovereignty
• All resolutions co-sponsored by the Section
• View all actions taken by the ABA House of Delegates
• Text of Service Award presented to Jerome J. Shestack

In January and February, the Section hosted a four-part program series on immigration reform during which experts debated the merits and underlying principles of legislative proposals in the 109th Congress, aimed at reforming the federal immigration system. The panels were held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Panelists included Anthony Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union; Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform; Eliseo Medina, International Executive Vice President of the Service Employees International Union, and others.

Complete audio, full transcripts, and pictures of each of the four panels are available via the link below.

• Section-sponsored four part panel series on immigration reform

• Section Sponsoring Upcoming Title IX CLE Teleconference

On Thursday, April 27, 2006, the Section will sponsor a CLE teleconference entitled “Title VII vs. Title IX: The Differences and Why They Matter to Your Discrimination Case.” The program will offer practical advice for lawyers interested in employment discrimination, education law, and gender equity issues.

Panelists will include moderator Kristen Galles, Title IX Practitioner; Leslie Annexstein, Former Director, American Association of University Women Advocacy Fund; Dan Siegel, Siegel & Yee; and Verna Williams, Professor of Law, University of Cincinnati College of Law.

• Additional Information and Registration Instructions for CLE Teleconference

• Section Sponsoring Upcoming Program on Judicial Independence

On Thursday, March 30, 2006, the Section will co-sponsor a program with the ABA Judicial Division entitled, “ Defining the Judge: How the Media, Elected Officials & the Public Perceive Judges & the Judiciary.” This program will examine the public's often misconceived perceptions of the judiciary and judges, how judges understand and define their role and their ethical obligations, and will explore how questions and criticism of the judiciary can be raised without jeopardizing the judicial system.

Panelists currently include Chief Judge Deanell Tacha, U.S. Court of Appeals, 10 th Circuit, Tony Mauro, Supreme Court Correspondent for Legal Times and American Lawyer Media, former Section Chair Mark Agrast, Sr. Fellow at the Center for American Progress and John Seigenthaler, Founder, The First Amendment Center, as the moderator.

• Registration Information

• AIDS Coordinating Committee Announces HIV/AIDS Law and Practice Conference

Registration is now open for the next national ABA HIV/AIDS Law & Practice Conference, scheduled 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 cosponsored by the ABA Young Lawyers Division as part of its 2005-06 National Public Service, Answering the Call, to increase young lawyers’ awareness of HIV/AIDS legal issues and expand access to HIV legal services.  To register for the conference, visit the AIDS Coordination Project website at: http://www.abanet.org/AIDS/home.html.

• ABA Day in Washington

The Section’s Spring Council Meeting has been scheduled to immediately follow ABA Day in Washington, May 3-4, 2006. Join ABA President Michael S. Greco and other ABA, state, local, and specialty bar leaders for this annual "lobby day."

• ABA Day Home Page and Registration Information

• Section Spring Council Meeting, May 5-6, 2006

The Section will hold its Spring Council Meeting on Friday and Saturday, May 5-6, 2006, at the ABA Offices in Washington, D.C., 740 15th St. N.W., Washington, D.C.

For more information about the meeting contact the Section office (tel.: 202/662-1030).

• Register Now and Save for 2006 ABA Annual Meeting in Honolulu

Early registration for the 2006 ABA Annual Meeting in Honolulu is now open.

The ABA is offering a variety of registration options.  Attendees can purchase an all-access badge for $440, which includes admission to all governance meetings and all CLE and non-CLE programs.  For those who do not plan on attending many CLE programs, a registration fee of $165 includes admittance to all governance meetings and non-CLE programs.

Individual program tickets can be purchased for $75, with discounted program tickets available to government lawyers and judges for $35.  Law students will be admitted to CLE programs at no additional charge.

Tickets for the 2006 Thurgood Marshall Dinner are also available for purchase. This year, the ABA is offering a discounted ticket price for members interested in attending both the ABA President’s Reception and the Dinner. Save $15 when you purchase both tickets together.

Registration fees increase after May 31, 2006.

• 2006 ABA Annual Meeting Home Page

• ABA Commission on Physical and Mental Disability Law presents 2006 National Conference on the Employment of Lawyers with Disabilities

The first National Conference on the Employment of Lawyers with Disabilities is being held May 22-23, 2006 in Washington, D.C. This Conference, presented by the ABA Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law in collaboration with the ABA President's Office and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC), is appropriate for lawyers, law students, law schools and any organization that employs lawyers. The intent is to help expand opportunities for lawyers with disabilities in all legal employment sectors.

In particular, the Conference will provide examples of best practices in hiring lawyers with disabilities, focus on the law pertaining to the employment of lawyers with disabilities and provide practical advice for how to set up a legal work environment to be accommodating to lawyers with disabilities.

• Conference Home Page

----------------

Your e-mail address will only be used within the ABA and its entities. We do not sell or rent e-mail addresses to anyone outside the ABA.

To change your e-mail address or remove your name from any future general distribution e-mails, complete the form at <https://www.abanet.org/members/join/coa2.html>.

If you prefer, call us at 800-285-2221 or write to:

American Bar Association Service Center
321 N Clark Street, Floor 16
Chicago, IL 60610

To review our privacy statement, go to <http://www.abanet.org/privacy_statement.html>.

----------------