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Section News

• A Message from the Chair
• Fall Council Meeting to be Held at Georgetown University Law Center
• IRR Presents Two Upcoming Teleconferences
• Section Calls for 2007 Thurgood Marshall Award Nominations
• Section to Hold First Civil Rights, Civil Liberties, and Social Justice Conference
• Georgetown Law Established Drinan Chair in Human Rights
  
  

One of the enjoyable tasks for me as chair of IRR is to get to know more people than I otherwise would, people who are section members, who care about IRR’s issues and are willing, and in many cases eager to work on them. I also meet people who are not yet (my perennial optimism) members of the Section and I feel a responsibility to try to acquaint them with the issues we are involved in and the work we do pursuing our mission of promoting civil rights, civil liberties, human rights, and social justice.

There is a third group who are Section members but are not active in the Section, though they support our concerns and learn from our quarterly magazine Human Rights and who may or may not be a member of one of our committees. It is to this group especially that I address this column and ask this simple question, how can we better serve and involve you?

IRR has 17 substantive committees (see our web site at www.abanet.org/irr for more information) and it is the committee members and leaders who generate much of our work, develop our programs, speak at our panels and teleconferences, and produce themes and issues for the Human Rights Magazine. There often are tasks for which expertise is needed and it is hard to go back to the same people time after time to ask for that help. So the challenge is to both increase our membership and to make more of our members active members.

If we had the ideal solution to either or both of those concerns we would have addressed them and I would not be writing this column. But we haven’t so I will offer a few suggestions and hope that I will hear from many of you as to how we can serve members better.

We aim to make IRR everyone’s second favorite section, recognizing that primary practice areas will dictate primary section involvement. But IRR works in the areas of civil rights, civil liberties, human rights, and social justice, which are the issues that many of us went to law school to address and to be able to work on. Our Membership Committee Co-Chairs C. Elisia Frazier and Patrick McGlone are developing strategies to help increase Section membership and member involvement. They both can be reached through the Section office at irr@abanet.org.

We invite all members to join committees. Since August 2006, I have sat in on many committee calls and the enthusiasm and desire to advance the work of the Section is very high. However, all committees can use help. So, I urge you to look at the Section’s web site, find the committees that most interest you, and join.

We also are considering starting a Section blog and would like your feedback on whether you think this would be of interest and whether you would actively participate in the discussions. We may choose to have a committee identify blog issues, or keep the discussion open to Section members on a variety of topics. What do you think will work best for you?

While IRR is a constantly evolving Section, its mission and goals remain clear. I view my role as Chair to keep the Section vital and active, and to continually include new members in our work. I can get you started. Won’t you join us?

Bob Stein, Section Chair
restein@verizon.net

Join us for a panel discussion at Georgetown University School of Law, McDonough Room 203, on Fri., Oct. 27. The program will examine recent developments in the areas of civil rights, civil liberties, and social justice. Section leaders will address a variety of topics, including:

• National Security Issues, Joseph Onek, Senior Policy Analyst, Open Society Institute;
• Voluntary School Integration Cases, John D. Payton, Partner, Wilmer Hale;
• Genetic Testing and DNA, Robyn S. Shapiro, Partner, Gardner Carton and Douglas, LLP;
• Death Penalty and Criminal Justice Issues, Virginia E. Sloan, President, The Constitution Project; and
• Environmental Justice Issues, Benjamin F. Wilson, Director, Beveridge & Diamond PC.

The program will be held in conjunction with the Section's Fall Council Meeting, also at the Georgetown University School of Law, Oct. 27-28, and is free of charge. All Section members are invited to attend.

On Thurs., Oct. 26, Section Chair Robert E. Stein will hold the third annual Committee Conclave in the ABA Washington Office (740 15th St, NW, John Marshall Room, 9th Floor). The Conclave provides Committee leaders and interested Section members an opportunity to plan and prioritize projects for the year ahead. To RSVP for the conclave, council meeting, or program, please contact the Section office at 202/662-1030.

The Section will hold two CLE teleconferences this fall, each designed to give attorneys practical advice for representing their clients.

Thurs., Nov. 9, 2006: A Primer on Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Recent Changes to Part B.

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), millions of children with disabilities receive special services each year designed to meet their unique needs each year.

For the uninitiated, the IDEA can be a complicated maze of regulations—particularly after the publication of new federal revisions of Part B of the IDEA (for school-aged children). Under the IDEA, special education and related services are provided through the school system for school-aged children and youth (aged 3 through 21).

In this teleconference and live audio webcast, our expert faculty will provide practical tips on navigating the IDEA and examine changes contained in the revised regulations from the perspectives of both parents and school districts. Panelists include:

• Daniel Ahearn, Attorney-Advisor, Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising, Harvard Law School; former director, Massachusetts Bureau of Special Education Appeals, Cambridge, MA
• Sue Gamm, Public Consulting Group; former Chief Specialized Services Officer, Chicago Public Schools; and Division Director - Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education Chicago, IL
• Alex J. Hurder, Clinical Professor of Law, Vanderbilt Law School; member, ABA Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities and the ABA Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law, Nashville, TN
• Robert G. Klein, McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon LLP; Former Justice, Hawaii Supreme Court, Honolulu, HI
• Maryann Overrath, Solo Practitioner, Austin, TX

Wed., Nov. 1, 2006: Same-Sex Parenting via Assisted Reproduction and Surrogacy: What Attorneys Need to Know.

While increasing numbers of lesbian and gay people are creating families, the law affecting these families has become more and more complicated.

This teleconference and live audio webcast will examine the legal landscape regarding children born to same-sex couples through assisted reproductive technologies and surrogacy. Panelists include:

• Richard A. Wilson (Moderator), Law Offices of Richard A. Wilson PC, Chicago, IL
• Susan L. Crockin, The Crockin Law & Policy Group, LLC, Newton, MA
• Joan Heifetz-Hollinger, University of California, Berkley Boalt Hall School of Law, Berkley, CA
• Judith Sperling-Newton, The Law Center for Children & Families, Madison, WI

 

To register for either program, please visit the ABA CLE Center at http://www.abanet.org/cle.

The Section is soliciting nominations for its 2007 Thurgood Marshall Award. Each year, the award is presented at the ABA Annual Meeting to a member of the legal profession who is dedicated to the advancement of civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights in the United States.

The deadline for nominations for the 2007 Thurgood Marshall Award is Dec. 15, 2006. Please see our website at http://www.abanet.org/irr/marshall-award.html for the nomination form and complete nomination instructions.

The Section will hold its first Civil Rights, Civil Liberties, and Social Justice Summit on April 13-14, 2007 in Washington, DC. The Summit is will bring together local, state, and minority bar leaders to address common issues of concern. More information regarding the summit will be available soon. Check the Section website at http://www.abanet.org/irr periodically for additional details.

Section member and former Section Chair Robert F. Drinan, S.J., will be honored with the establishment of the Drinan Chair in Human Rights at the Georgetown University Law Center. The announcement ceremony will be held at the Law Center on Oct. 23, and will include a keynote address from Yale Law School Dean and fellow human rights advocate Harold Hongju Koh.

Father Drinan has a distinguished history of leading human rights efforts, as well as improving the legal profession. He is a founder of the Lawyers' Alliance for Nuclear Arms Control and the National Interreligious Task Force on Soviet Jewry, and he serves on the Helsinki Watch Committee and as the vice chair of the National Advisory Council of the ACLU.

The first Drinan Chair will be Judge Thomas Buergenthal, a judge on the International Court of Justice.

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