Northeastern University School of Law presents the 2008 Daynard Public Interest Visiting Fellows Program

2008 Fellows

Michael Ratner
President
Center for Constitutional Rights

Christina DeConcini '88
Director of Legislative Affairs
World Resources Institute

Northeastern University School of Law is pleased to announce the 2008 Daynard Public Interest Visiting Fellows: social justice pathbreakers Michael Ratner and Christina DeConcini. The Daynard Program brings two distinguished practitioners of public interest law to the Northeastern campus each academic year for a three-day visit. The fellows, nationally recognized public interest leaders, serve as role models for students, demonstrating how legal skills can be used effectively and creatively to make the world a better place. The Daynard Fellows each deliver an address that focuses on the strategic use of law to promote public interest goals, participate in classes, consult about professional opportunities for students and graduates, and meet individually with interested faculty, administrators and students.

This vibrant program was established in 2004 through the generosity of Professor Richard A. Daynard and his wife, Carol Iskols Daynard. Professor Daynard is an expert on legal approaches to dealing with the epidemics of tobacco- and obesity-related disease. He is president of law school's Public Health Advocacy Institute.

Michael Ratner is a leading force in defending the values of a democratic society. Under his leadership, the Center for Constitutional Rights has aggressively challenged the constitutional and international law violations undertaken by the United States post 9-11, including the constitutionality of indefinite detention and the restrictions on civil liberties as defined by the unfolding terms of a permanent war. In addition to the Guantanamo litigation, the Center for Constitutional Rights' cases include a suit on behalf of Canadian citizen Maher Arar, who was sent by the US to be tortured in Syria, as well as a class action suit against the detention of non-citizen Muslim and Arab men within the United States.

Mr. Ratner is the author of several books, including International Human Rights Litigation in U.S. Courts (with Beth Stephens); Che Guevara and the FBI: U.S. Political Police Dossier on the Latin American Revolutionary; Against War with Iraq: An Anti-War Primer (with Jennie Green and Barbara Olshansky); and Guantanamo: What the World Should Know (with Ellen Ray). In 2006, The National Law Journal named Mr. Ratner one of the 100 most influential lawyers in the United States. He has been honored as the "Trial Lawyer of the Year" by the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, and is the recipient of many other awards.

Community Lecture and Reception
"Boats Against the Tide
From Attica to Guantanamo: The Struggle for Liberty and Justice in America" Thursday, January 17, 2008
Noon, Room 97

Roundtable Discussion and Reception
"Looking Forward: What is to be Done When the Courts, Congress and Executive Fail Us"
Friday January 18, 2008
2:30 p.m.

Christina DeConcini has dedicated 20 years to representing, working with and advocating on behalf of immigrants and refugees. Most recently, she served for three years as the director of policy for the National Immigration Forum, overseeing policy and legislative activities on immigration priorities. Previously, she was director of advocacy for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), where she advocated for more just policies for immigrants, with a particular focus on those in detention.

Ms. DeConcini also served as director of the American Bar Association's Pro Bono Development and Bar Activation Project for 10 years, setting up and funding pro bono projects across the country and successfully negotiating with the Department of Justice about the need for immigration detention standards. She also represented asylum-seekers, including detained women and children, and coordinated pro bono representation programs at Centro Presente in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Proyecto Libertad in South Texas. She speaks and writes frequently on immigration, has served on numerous boards and committees related to immigration and has taught immigration law and advocacy at Georgetown University School of Continuing Education.

This year, Ms. DeConcini sought a new challenge, focusing on climate change as director of legislative affairs for the World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank. She is hopeful that eventually her two career paths will intersect as poor and developing countries have been, and will be, hardest hit by climate change, resulting in forced migration, environmental refugees and an increased need for future advocacy in this area.

Roundtable Discussion and Reception
"Immigration Policy in the US: The Politics and Policy Surrounding the Current Debate"
Friday, April 18, 2008
2:30 p.m.