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

Section News

• Paul M. Igasaki Becomes Section Chair

• Highlights of Section Activities at 2005 ABA Annual Meeting

• ABA Hurricane Katrina Efforts and Midyear Meeting Changes

• Fall Council Meeting to be Held in Washington, DC

• 2006 Thurgood Marshall Award Nominations Sought
  

(Message from Section Chair Paul M. Igasaki):

It is my honor to succeed Steve Hanlon, and a distinguished list of exceptional leaders, as Chair of the ABA’s Section of Individual Rights & Responsibilities.  At our Thurgood Marshall Dinner at the Annual Meeting in Chicago, as we honored Judge Abner Mikva, I was reminded of that legacy.  Abner Mikva has been a role model for me since my youth, and he recruited me for this Section when he was our Chair.  Another former Chair, Justice Cruz Reynoso, also guided me at an early stage of my career.  I am humbled and challenged by this history and look forward to serving this Section in the year ahead.

• View Entire Message from Section Chair
• Biography of Section Chair

Hon. Abner J. Mikva accepted the 2005 Thurgood Marshall Award before nearly 600 attendees at a dinner held in his honor on Saturday, August 6, 2005.

• More on Judge Mikva
• Slideshow of photos from the Dinner

U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens delivered the keynote address, which made national headlines when he remarked on flaws of our country’s death penalty system.

• Text of Justice Stevens’ Keynote Address

Also at the Annual Meeting, the ABA House of Delegates passed a Section-sponsored resolution supporting the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as amended through 1992.

• Section-sponsored resolution
• View all resolutions sponsored and co-sponsored by the Section
• View all resolutions considered by the House of Delegates

At the Section's Leadership Luncheon, the Section Council presented the Health Rights and Bioethics Committee with the Section's Committee Excellence Award.  Committee leaders include George J. Annas, Susan B. Fogel, and Lourdes A. Rivera (Co-Chairs); and Sabrina T. Halloran, Vernellia R. Randall, and Marcy J. Wilder (Vice Chairs).

• Committee Award Citation

The Section presented several CLE programs during the 2005 Annual Meeting, covering topics such as immigration reform, the capital punishment of juveniles and the mentally impaired, social security reform, transgender employment discrimination, and lawyers’ role in the 2004 presidential election.  In addition, the Section-sponsored the Presidential Plenary Session, “The Global War on Terror: Conflict or Compatibility with the U.S. Bill of Rights and the Rule of Law” drew 200 attendees and featured many distinguished panelists, including Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; M. Chariff Bassiouni, President of the International Human Rights Institute of DePaul University College of Law; Elisa C. Massimino, Director of Human Rights First; and, Harold Hongju Koh, Dean of Yale Law School.

Audio of some programs will be available for purchase through Westlaw later this year.

In response to hurricane Katrina, ABA President Michael S. Greco has set up a Task Force to enable the ABA to help individual victims, small businesses, lawyers, law schools, students, military personnel and others affected by the Hurricane.

In addition, the ABA has set up a website with Katrina news and resources for lawyers and victims, including information on lawyer assistance information, information for lawyers wanting to volunteer their services, and other helpful information.

• ABA Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief website

The ABA has also announced that the 2006 Midyear Meeting, originally scheduled to take place in New Orleans, will instead take place in Chicago, Ill., from February 8-13, 2006.  Those who have already registered and/or made hotel reservations in New Orleans will soon receive a new confirmation for Chicago.  Those who have not yet registered will be able to beginning in early October.  Please check the ABA Meetings and Travel Website for updates on the Midyear Meeting.

• ABA 2006 Midyear Meeting Home Page

The Section Council will hold its fall meeting from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 28, and from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29, at the ABA Offices in Washington, D.C. ( 740 15th Street, NW, 9th Floor Conference Room).  

At the meeting, the Section Council will hold a special election to fill the Section’s new second Delegate position in the ABA House of Delegates.  The Council will also elect two section members to interim appointments to fill its new minority-at-large Council seats that were approved by the ABA Board of Governors in June 2005 and adopted as part of the Section’s amended bylaws in August.

All Council members and Delegates must be members of the ABA and of the Section.  Past service to the Section, through committees or otherwise, or having done significant work outside of the Section that will add to the Section’s work and credibility will also be factors in the appointments.  The special election will take place during the Section’s fall Council Meeting on Friday, Oct. 28, at 1:00 p.m.

The Section will also hold its second annual Committee Conclave on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2005, also at the ABA offices in Washington, D.C.  The Conclave will be held from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. and will provide an opportunity for committee leaders and members to share ideas for projects and policy development and to learn more about the ABA and the Section.

Please contact the Section office (tel.: 202/662-1030) with any questions regarding the Council meeting, special election, or the Committee Conclave.

The Section soon will begin accepting nominations for the 2006 Thurgood Marshall Award.  Established in 1992, the Thurgood Marshall Award honors U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who epitomized individual commitment, in word and action, to the cause of civil rights in this country.  The award recognizes similar long-term contributions by other members of the legal profession to the advancement of civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights in the United States.

Nominees for the award must have made substantial and long-term contributions to the furtherance of civil rights, civil liberties, or human rights in this country.  Nominees should be judges or duly licensed members of the bar in good standing.  However, a non-lawyer who otherwise qualifies for the award may be considered for the award in exceptional circumstances. Nominations of individuals posthumously cannot be considered.  The nomination submission deadline is Friday, Jan. 6, 2006.

To request a nomination package (available in October), contact the Section office at 202/662-1030.  Nomination forms also will be available for download from the Section website.