Section News

Joan F. Kessler Becomes Section Chair

Joan F. Kessler of Milwaukee, Wisc., succeeded Mark D. Agrast of Washington, D. C., as Section Chair at the Section Annual Meeting on Aug. 8, during the ABA’s 2003 Annual Meeting in San Francisco. Joan’s initial message to the membership set out her plans for the year, including activities marking the 40th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the launch of a Section book publishing program.

Other 2003-04 officers elected at the meeting include Stephen F. Hanlon (Chair-elect), John D. Podesta (Vice Chair), and Paul M. Igasaki (Secretary). C. Elisia Frazier and Roy A. Hammer continue three-year terms as Section Delegate and Finance Officer, respectively. Leaders of Section Committees also have been named.

At the meeting, Mark D. Agrast issued the Section’s first comprehensive annual report on Section activities.

• Biography of Section Chair
• Section Leadership Roster
• Committee Leadership Roster
• Annual Report of the 2002-03 Section Chair

Section to Take Seat on ABA Board of Governors in 2004

Beginning in 2004, the IRR Section is entitled to have a representative on the ABA Board of Governors for a three-year term. The rotating position is the IRR Section’s only once every 12 years.

The Board of Governors meets approximately six times a year. The Section representative would be expected to attend all of those meetings, as well as all Section Council meetings and required BOG Committee meetings.

The Section must submit the name of its candidate to the ABA Nominating Committee in January 2004. Anyone interested in being considered for this position should send a statement of interest by e-mail, fax, or mail to:

Penny Wakefield, Section Director
ABA Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities
740 15th St., N. W.
Washington, D. C. 20005-1022
Tel.: 202/662-1030
Fax: 202/662-1031
wakefieldp@staff.abanet.org

Be sure to state why you would be a good choice for the job and confirm that you are willing to make the time commitment necessary. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, October 22, 2003.

Section Receives $25,000 Gift from Neukom Family Fund

The Section’s continuing efforts to raise funds from members and private donors to help support Section activities received a major boost recently with a gift from the Neukom Family Fund. The contribution of $5,000 per year for five years to the Section’s IRR Support Fund will further the Section’s work on civil rights and civil liberties issues. Bill Neukom, formerly general counsel for Microsoft Corporation and now with Preston Gates & Ellis LLP, served on the Section Council from 1987 to 1992.

Section members and friends may contribute to the IRR Support Fund, which helps fund special projects and activities, or the Thurgood Marshall Individual Rights Fund, the Section’s endowment fund, at any time. For more information about current supporters and ways to contribute, see:

• Section Donor List
• How to Make Tax-deductible Contributions to the Section’s Fund

  (Be sure to indicate that your contribution is for the "IRR Support Fund" or the "Thurgood Marshall Individual Rights Fund")

Nominations Invited for 2004 Thurgood Marshall Award

Nominations now are being solicited for the 2004 Thurgood Marshall Award. Members, leaders, and entities of the ABA and other bar associations are invited to submit nominations, as are other groups or individuals involved in civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights issues.

Submissions must be postmarked by Friday, January 23, 2004.

• 2004 Nomination Form
• Nomination Process
• 2004 Award Committee

Section’s 2003 Annual Meeting Activities Highly Successful

Among the highlights:

San Francisco lawyer Dale Minami accepted the twelfth annual Thurgood Marshall Award before a record audience at a dinner held in his honor on Saturday, Aug. 9. Minami is best known for successfully working to vacate the convictions of Fred Korematsu and other defendants in the World War II internment cases. For more about Minami’s lifelong civil rights contributions, see:

• ABA Press Release on Dale Minami

The ABA House of Delegates approved two Section-sponsored policies.

The first, drafted by the Section’s Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, supports state and territorial laws and court decisions that permit the establishment of a legal parent-child relationship through joint adoption and second-parent adoption by unmarried persons who are functioning as a child's parents.

The second, developed by the Section’s Task Force on Terrorism and National Security, opposes efforts to repeal the sunset provision of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 and urges Congress to conduct a thorough review of the implementation of the powers granted to the Executive Branch under the Act before considering any extension or expansion of surveillance authority under the Act. For complete texts, see:

• Second-Parent Adoptions Report with Recommendation
• USA PATRIOT Act Sunset Provisions Report with Recommendation
• All Reports with Recommendations Co-sponsored by Section at 2003 Annual Meeting
• All Reports Considered by House of Delegates at 2003 Annual Meeting

At the Section’s Leadership Award Luncheon, the Section Council presented the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Committee with the Section’s Committee Excellence Award. Committee leaders include Courtney Joslin of San Francisco, Calif., and Patrick McGlone of Arlington, Va. (Co-chairs); and Mary Bonauto of Boston, Mass., Barrett Brick of Washington, D. C., Richard Clarkson of Beaumont, Tex., Glenn Stover of San Francisco, Calif., and Hector Vargas of Atlanta, Ga. (Vice Chairs).

Also honored at the luncheon was the law firm of Morrison & Foerster LLP for its many years of pro bono contributions to the Section’s work.

For more about the committee’s and law firm’s achievements, see:

• Committee Award Citation
• Pro Bono Award Citation
• ABA Press Release on Summer 2003 Human Rights – Magazine Examines Legal Parental Rights for Same-Sex Parents and their Children
• Summer 2003 Human Rights Magazine

U. S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy attended a Section program on "The Right to Counsel: Forty Years after Gideon v. Wainwright" and subsequently wrote panelist and IRR Death Penalty Committee Co-chair Ronald J. Tabak to thank him for the "informative discussion." He added that a presentation such as Ron's ". . . gives one a renewed sense of commitment to the law's purposes. It was my privilege to be at the session."

ABA Files Section-Sponsored Amicus Curiae Brief in Padilla v. Rumsfeld

The ABA filed a Section-sponsored amicus curiae brief in the case of Padilla v. Rumsfeld, in which the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit will hear arguments on Nov. 17. The case involves the right to counsel for a United States citizen being held by the U. S. government as an enemy combatant. The brief argues that Jose Padilla, currently held as an enemy combatant, is entitled to meaningful judicial review, which requires that he be permitted to challenge the basis for his detention and that he be allowed access to Counsel.

• ABA Amicus Curiae Brief in Padilla v. Rumsfeld

Section Begins 1964 Civil Rights Act Initiative

The coming year marks the 40th Anniversary of the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which brought about perhaps the biggest change in our country since Reconstruction. Some assert that the promises of the 1964 Civil Rights Act have been fulfilled, while others see much still to be done.

Over the next year, under the coordination of Section Secretary Paul Igasaki, the Section will examine all aspects of the 1964 CRA applicable to Section interest areas to review the promises and the performance of this major piece of legislation. Section committees will develop CLE programs on these topics and will produce written materials as guides for practitioners in these areas. Please watch for progress reports and contact the Section office if you would like to help with this project.

Section Launches Book Publishing Program

This year the Section will begin a concentrated effort to preserve the outstanding work produced regularly by our committees, in the form of reports and policy resolutions and CLE programs, and perhaps expand them, in the form of special topic publications to be developed and marketed in cooperation with ABA Publishing.

Carlton Stansbury, who developed a publications program for another section, will serve as chair of a new IRR Publications Committee. This committee may contact individuals or particular committees for assistance in locating authors or otherwise developing books of real use to lawyers who practice in areas involving civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights. Other members of the Publications Committee include Courtney Joslin, Amy Shapiro, Harlan Loeb, and Charles Vanstrom.

Anyone with an idea for a book or interested in helping the Publications Committee, contact Chair Joan F. Kessler (tel.: 414/297-5541; e-mail jkessler@foleylaw.com) or Carlton Stansbury (tel.: 414/359-9100; e-mail : cstansbury@burbach-stansbury.com).

Section Co-sponsors "Medical Research – Year in Review" CLE Teleconference

On Oct. 7, the Section presented its first Continuing Legal Education program via teleconference when it joined with other entities in sponsoring, "Medical Research, Year in Review", a four-part series running each Tuesday in October. The Oct. 28 teleconference, entitled, "The Individual and Research," will be moderated by Health Rights and Bioethics Committee Co-chair George J. Annas, with Section Chair-elect Stephen F. Hanlon participating as a presenter.

The cost of individual teleconferences is $85 for Section members.

• Full listing of teleconferences and registration information

 

IRR, Other Sections Respond to Justice Kennedy Challenge on Sentencing Policies

U. S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy has challenged the ABA "to correct inequities under current sentencing schemes." Speaking at the Opening Assembly of the ABA’s 2003 Annual Meeting, he said that the ABA " . . . should consider a recommendation to reinvigorate the pardon process at the state and federal levels." New ABA President Dennis Archer has appointed Section Council member Neal Sonnett of Miami, Fla., to an 11-member panel to determine what further action the ABA should take on sentencing/pardon issues.

• Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s Speech at 2003 ABA Annual Meeting

Section History and 2003 Update Available for Purchase

Did you know that U. S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and two of the ABA’s Presidents in the past six years once served on the Section Council? These and many other facts about the Section are detailed in the Section publication, Advancing The Law - Protecting the Individual, Defending Human Dignity, now available for purchase with an update through 2003. The book describes the Section’s activities and accomplishments since its inception in 1966 and includes listings of important dates/developments, resolutions presented to the ABA House of Delegates, and ABA amicus curiae briefs developed by the Section, as well as year-by-year listings of officers and Council members. To purchase this publication, please send a check for $5 (made payable to the American Bar Association) to cover postage and handling to:

Section History Orders
ABA Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities
740 15th St., N. W.
Washington, D. C. 20005-1022

• Section History Update

Upcoming Events

• Oct. 25-26, 2003, Fall Council Meeting, Washington, D. C.
• Jan. 23-24, 2004, second ABA HIV/AIDS Law and Practice Conference, New Orleans, La.

Program and Registration Information

• Feb. 4-10, 2004, ABA Midyear Meeting, San Antonio, Texas

Registration Information