Anil Kalhan

Civil Liberties Ten Years After 9/11

A symposium co-sponsored by the Justice Action Center, the American Constitution Society, and the Federalist Society.

Friday, September 9, 2011
10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m
(Registration begins at 9:00 a.m.)
New York Law School, Events Center
185 West Broadway, New York, NY 10013

Hosted by the Justice Action Center at New York Law School and the New York Law School Law Review.

If you have any questions, please contact Lisabeth Jorgensen at Lisabeth.Jorgensen@law.nyls.edu.

REGISTRATION AND CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION

Admission to the Symposium is free for NYLS faculty, staff, students and alumni, and for non-NYLS students with school I.D. General admission is $25.00 for non-students who are not affiliated with NYLS.

This CLE program has been approved for a maximum of six hours of CLE credit in professional practice for both transitional and non-transitional attorneys. New York Law School offers tuition assistance for attorneys who may have difficulty attending CLE events due to cost considerations. Click here to see if you qualify.

To register, please click on the following link or copy and paste it into a separate browser window: https://nyls.wufoo.com/forms/civil-liberties-10-years-after-911/

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

9:00 a.m.–10:00 a.m.
Registration
Continental Breakfast, Registration, and Opening Remarks

10:00 a.m.–Noon
Panel 1: Separation of Powers: The Roles and Inter-Relationships of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches since 9/11
2 CLE credits available in Professional Practice

This panel will discuss the appropriate scope of and limits on the powers of each branch of government since 9/11, including specific exercises of power by each branch that some have criticized as violating the Constitution’s checks and balances.

• Moderator: Linda Greenhouse, Yale Law School; Columnist, The New York Times
• David Cole, Georgetown Law School
• Richard Epstein, New York University School of Law; The Hoover Institution; University of Chicago Law School
• Peter Shane, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law
• Vince Warren, Executive Director, Center for Constitutional Rights
• John Yoo, University of California, Berkeley Law School; Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice 2001–03)

Noon–2:30 p.m.
Panel 2: National Security and Civil Liberties: A Decade of Striking a Delicate Balance, or a False Choice?
Lunch will be available starting at noon
2 CLE credits available in Professional Practice

This panel will address not only the overarching (alleged) tensions between liberty and security, but also specific measures that the government has implemented since 9/11 that affect particular civil liberties as well as the rights of particular groups of individuals.

• Moderator: Caroline Fredrickson, Executive Director, American Constitution Society
• Muneer Ahmad, Yale Law School
• Jamil N. Jaffer, Senior Counsel, House Intelligence Committee; Associate Counsel to the President, White House, 2008–09; Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General, National Security Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 2007–08
• Anil Kalhan, Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law
• Sigal Mandelker, Proskauer Rose LLP; Deputy Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division 2006–09
• Joanne Mariner, Director, Human Rights Program, Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute, Hunter College
• Geoffrey Stone, University of Chicago Law School

2:30 p.m.–4:00 p.m.
Panel 3: Courts, Accountability, and Justice: Forums for Assuring that Justice Is Served
This panel will begin immediately after lunch is cleared and may start as early as 2:00 p.m.
2 CLE credits available in Professional Practice

This panel will discuss efforts to bring to justice individuals who have been accused of responsibility for the 9/11 attacks and other actual or planned acts of terrorism, as well as government and military officials and their contractors who have been accused of abuses. It will consider the appropriate judicial and non-judicial forums and procedures for ensuring that those who are responsible for acts of war, crimes, and abuses of power will be held accountable, consistent with principles of fairness and justice, and that those unjustly accused are exonerated.

• Moderator: Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
• Michael Chertoff, Covington & Burling LLP; Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security 2005-09
• Eugene Fidell, Yale Law School; President, National Institute of Military Justice
• Martin Flaherty, Fordham Law School; Princeton University
• Andrew McCarthy, Co-Chair, Center for Law and Counterterrorism; Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York 1993–96
• Anthony Romero, Executive Director, American Civil Liberties Union

4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
Wine and Cheese Reception

9/11/2001-9/11/2011 — A Decade of Advocacy: A Practical Lawyering Perspective

Sponsored by the Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law, American Constitution Society – Drexel Chapter, Drexel International Law and Human Rights Society, Drexel Middle Eastern Law Students Association, National Lawyers Guild – Drexel Chapter, Drexel Philosophy Club

Panelists:

Deepa Iyer
Executive Director, South Asian Americans Leading Together

Deepa Iyer is the Executive Director of South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), a national, non-profit organization in the Washington DC area. Iyer has guided SAALT’s direction on policy advocacy, programs and partnerships since 2004. An attorney by training, Iyer has previously worked at Asian American legal organizations as well as the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where she addressed the post-September 11th backlash facing South Asian, Muslim, Sikh and Arab American communities. Regarded as an expert on the impact of September 11th on immigrants and minority communities, Iyer is the Executive Producer of a documentary on hate crimes, has written extensively on the post 9/11 backlash, and taught classes at Columbia University, Hunter College and the University of Maryland. Most recently, she is the guest editor of Race/Ethnicity, a journal on the 10-year anniversary of September 11th which is forthcoming from the Kirwan Institute for Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University in August 2011. For her work around 9/11 issues, Iyer has received community leadership awards from the Asian Pacific Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) and Chhaya CDC. Iyer serves as Vice Chair of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans and on the Board of Directors of the Applied Research Center.

Moein Khawaja
Executive Director, Council of American-Islamic Relations of Pennsylvania

Moein Khawaja was born and raised in Springfield, IL and has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Illinois. His extensive activism experience began during his undergraduate years at the University of Illinois. Along with substantial involvement with the Muslim Students Association at the University of Illinois, Moein developed the first CAIR chapter for a university and an extensive leadership training program. He also facilitated the logistics of the MSA-national Central Zone Conference and was an intern at the Environmental Protection Agency. For his work, he earned the Illinois Leadership Certificate. In addition to owning and managing a small contracting business, Moein devoted a considerable amount of time in 2008 to the Barack Obama Presidential campaign as a volunteer coordinator. Moein is currently a fellow at the American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute, a program of the University of Southern California Center for Religion and Civic Culture. In September 2009, he was hired as CAIR-PA’s new Civil Rights Director, and began in his capacity as Executive Director in May 2010. Through CAIR, Moein is dedicated to protecting the rights of all Americans and to promote the understanding and integration of Islam into the American experience.

Mary Catherine Roper
Staff Attorney, American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania

Mary Catherine Roper is a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania’s Philadelphia Office, where she coordinates litigation on a broad range of civil liberties issues, including freedom of speech, religious liberty, racial and ethnic justice, equality for lesbians and gay men, student rights, privacy, prisoners’ rights and police misconduct. Prior to joining the ACLU, Mary Catherine was a partner in the firm of Drinker Biddle and Reath, where she was well known for her commitment to pro bono work. Mary Catherine is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Anita B. Brody of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and served a year with the Disabilities Law Project as the first recipient of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation Public Interest Fellowship.

* * *

When: Wed, Sep 7, 2011, 5:00pm

Where: Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law, Rm 140
3320 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA

Reception to follow.

The recent floods caused by torrential monsoon rains have affected as many as 14 million people in Pakistan, more than the combined total of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The area affected equals the size of the State of Florida.

Please join the South Asian Bar Association of New York (SABANY) and help with the flood relief efforts in Pakistan. $10 minimum donation. Cash only or checks only. *This is not open bar.*

All proceeds will be donated to Relief4Pakistan:

Relief4Pakistan is a grassroots donation campaign designed in response to the deadly floods in Pakistan and the millions impacted. The campaign is a partnership between Pakistani Peace Builders, a new initiative of Pakistani-Americans and concerned global citizens, and ML Resources Social Vision, a private venture philanthropy dedicated to supporting innovative organizations and initiatives with expected high social returns.

Relief4Pakistan aims to centralize donations toward the emergency first response relief efforts in Pakistan in order to maximize impact. By directing funds to Mercy Corps, you can be part of a large and effective campaign to support relief efforts on the ground and raise much-needed public awareness of the large-scale disaster that is rapidly unfolding.

Why Mercy Corps?

Both Pakistani Peace Builders and ML Social Vision deliberated over which of the numerous organizations that are currently operating in Pakistan (all of whom are doing incredible work) should be the recipient of our efforts. After an enormous amount of thought and due diligence, Mercy Corps was chosen as a vehicle to assist those is need in Pakistan. Our selection was made based on the organization’s transparency, efficiency, and previous efforts in Pakistan.

Currently, there is an urgent need for food, shelter and clean water and Mercy Corps staffers are on the ground in Pakistan working to provide clean water, staple foods and clean-up tools for affected families. Mercy Corps’ efforts at this time are concentrated in the Swat Valley and the Sindh Province (where Mercy Corps’ team is assessing the specific needs), two of the most affected areas in this disaster.

Mercy Corps demonstrates both transparency and efficiency in their aid efforts, and is able to respond quickly to emergencies, working with local organizations and communities in Pakistan for a more sustained and strategic impact.

Who is Mercy Corps?

Mercy Corps is a global aid agency that focuses on disaster response, sustainable economic development, health services, and emergency and natural disaster relief. The organization exists to alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping people build secure, productive, and just communities.

Mercy Corps is known and respected for its expertise in responding to global emergencies such as this one, as well as its long-term commitment to Pakistan. It has been working in Pakistan since the Afghan Refugee crisis in 1986 and has played a key role in relief and recovery efforts during both the 2006 earthquake and the 2009 Internally Displaced Person (IDP) crisis.

Mercy Corps has long been recognized as an excellent steward of the resources entrusted to it. Over the last five years, Mercy Corps has used 88 percent of their resources for programs that help people in need. According to their website, “ensuring that resources are wisely spent is the cornerstone of our values, vision, and strategy for growth in the future.”

* * *

Gstaad, 43 West 26th StreetDATE: Monday, September 13, 2010
TIME: 7:00-10:00pm
LOCATION: Gstaad, 43 W 26 St, New York, NY 10010
DONATION: $10 minimum donation. Cash only or checks only. *This is not open bar*

* * *

About SABANY:

The South Asian Bar Association of New York (SABANY) is an organization of South Asian attorneys practicing in the New York City metropolitan region. SABANY is dedicated to the needs, concerns, and interests of lawyers of South Asian heritage. We are committed to promoting the professional development of the South Asian legal community through networking, advocacy, and mentoring. Each year we host panels, CLE courses, and workshops on career development, social justice issues, and current events. We also organize monthly networking events, a Public Interest Fellowship Benefit, and a Leadership Awards Gala. SABANY is dedicated to ensuring the civil liberties of the South Asian community in New York, by acting as a conduit between the South Asian community and legal services and educational programs in the area. It is our goal to educate South Asian Americans about their legal system and to encourage more participation by our community in the legal profession.

Marc Galanter
“Whither Indian Law? Impending Changes and Possible Futures”

Sponsored by the Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law, the University of Pennsylvania South Asia Center, the University of Pennsylvania Center for the Advanced Study of India, and the Drexel Law Review

Marc Galanter, the John and Rylla Bosshard Professor of Law and South Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and LSE Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, studies litigation, lawyers, and legal culture. He is the author of a number of highly regarded and seminal studies of litigation and disputing in the United States (including “Why the ‘Haves’ Come Out Ahead: Speculations on the Limits of Legal Change,” one of the most-cited articles in the legal literature. His work includes pioneering studies on the impact of disputant capabilities in adjudication, the relation of public legal institutions to informal regulation, and patterns of litigation in the United States. He is also co-author of Tournament of Lawyers (with Thomas Palay, 1991) which is widely viewed as the most robust explanation of the growth and transformation of large law firms.

He is an outspoken critic of misrepresentations of the American civil justice system and of the inadequate knowledge base that makes the system so vulnerable to misguided attacks.

Much of his early work was on India. He is recognized as a leading American student of the Indian legal system. He is the author of Competing Equalities: Law and the Backward Classes in India (1984, 1991) and Law and Society in Modern India (1989, 1992). He is an Honorary Professor of the National Law School of India, served as advisor to the Ford Foundation on legal services and human rights programs in India, and was retained as an expert by the government of India in the litigation arising from the Bhopal disaster. He is currently engaged in research on access to justice in India.

A leading figure in the empirical study of the legal system, he has been editor of the Law & Society Review, President of the Law and Society Association, Chair of the International Commission on Folk Law and Legal Pluralism, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. He is a member of the American Law Institute and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received degrees in philosophy and law from the University of Chicago. In addition to the University of Wisconsin and the London School of Economics, he has taught at Chicago, Buffalo, Columbia, and Stanford.

* * *

When: Tue, Aug 31, 2010, 4:15pm

Where: Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law, Rm 240
3320 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA

Reception to follow.

You are cordially invited to the
7th Annual
SABANY Public Interest Fellowship Event
Please join us and spread the word!

Tickets on sale now

Wednesday, April 21, 2010
7:00pm-10:30pm

Aicon Gallery
35 Great Jones Street
New York, NY

Our famous Lychee Martinis, Wine, Beer & Food will be served.

SABANY established the Public Interest Fellowship to help support law students who spend their summers working in unpaid legal internships that provide services to underserved communities in the New York area.

Guest Speaker Sameer Ashar

Sameer Ashar is the Associate Dean for Clinical Programs, Associate Professor of Law at CUNY School of Law and teaches the Immigration and Refugee Rights and Community Economic Development Clinics. He received his J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was Lead Articles Editor for the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and edited and organized symposia on political lawyering and economic justice. He received his B.A. in politics and economics with high honors from Swarthmore College.

Professor Ashar has served as a Skadden Fellow with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco, worked as an associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and was a law clerk to the Honorable Deborah A. Batts of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. He has taught the NYU School of Law Immigrant Rights Clinic and the University of Maryland School of Law Civil Rights Clinic. He is the author of law review articles on immigration, race, public interest law, and clinical legal education. Professor Ashar has presented at the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) conferences, annual meetings of the Law and Society Association, and at numerous law schools, including Berkeley, Seton Hall, Stanford, and Washington University. Professor Ashar is Chair-elect of the Poverty Law Section of AALS, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Law and Society Association, and a former board member of the Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund and Swarthmore College.

Tickets on sale now:

SABANY Members:

$30.00 for Private Sector Attorneys
$15.00 for Public Interest Sector and Non-Attorneys
$10.00 for Law Students

SABANY Non-Members:

$40.00 for Private Sector Attorneys
$25.00 for Public Interest Sector and Non-Attorneys
$15.00 for Law Students

Tickets Purchased at the door:

SABANY Members:

$40.00 for Private Sector Attorneys
$25.00 for Public Interest Sector and Non-Attorneys
$15.00 for Law Students

SABANY Non-Members:

$50.00 for Private Sector Attorneys
$35.00 for Public Interest Sector and Non-Attorneys
$25.00 for Law Students

If you are unable to join us on April 21st, please consider purchasing a $50 donation ticket to help support the SABANY Public Interest Fellowship Program.

[Link]

The South Asian Bar Association of Philadelphia
invites you to a

Chai Chat

with

Professor Anil Kalhan
Associate Professor of Law
Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law

“Rethinking Immigration Detention”

Tuesday April 6, 2010
5:30pm to 7:00pm

at the offices of
Kolsby Gordon Robin Shore & Bezar LLP
2000 Market Street – 28th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103

Chai and other light refreshments will be served.

For planning purposes, RSVPs to andersonsk@ballardspahr.com by April 2, 2010 are appreciated, though not required.

Come hear Nisha Agarwal, Director of the Health Justice Program at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, discuss NYLPI’s use of law and organizing to address issues of racial and ethnic health disparities in New York City. Her talk will focus on two innovative campaigns: (1) improving access to pharmacies for limited English proficient individuals and (2) eliminating race and class segregation in academic medical centers. She will describe how these campaigns have evolved from community education and organizing to legal action to legislative victories and how law students can get involved in these projects and others.

Nisha Agarwal is the Director of the Health Justice Program at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, where she began her legal career as a Skadden Public Interest Fellow. Ms. Agarwal’s work at NYLPI focuses on bringing a racial justice and immigrant rights perspective to health care advocacy. In collaboration with community-based organizations and coalitions across New York City, Ms. Agarwal is working on campaigns on language rights in pharmacies, racial discrimination in hospitals, medical deportation, and the closure of community hospitals and clinics in medically under-served areas. Nisha is also active in the South Asian Bar Association of New York, where she serves as Vice President for Public Interest, and is the co-founder of the Harvard Law School Summer Theory Institute for public interest law students. Ms. Agarwal earned her BA, summa cum laude, from Harvard College in 2000 and received a British Marshall Scholarship for graduate studies at Oxford University. She received her JD from Harvard Law School in 2006.

* * *

When: Wed, Mar 31, 2010, 4:15pm

Where: Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law, Rm 240
3320 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA

The Indian Supreme Court is widely recognized as a complex and dynamic institution. It has been the subject of much acclaim, as well as criticism. The Court has even been charged with overreaching itself and intruding into the domains of the executive and the legislature. In an era of globalization and judicial activism, the experience of India, offers a valuable perspective on the role judges play in a vibrant democracy.

What explains the choices that India’s Supreme Court justices make? Do judges make distinctions between the religious and political affiliations of the accused when adjudicating anti-terror cases? If so, why, and under what conditions?

In an era of globalization, India’s experience offers a valuable perspective on the role judges play in a vibrant democracy. Hear Shylashri Shankar address these questions, in a talk drawing from her recent book, Scaling Justice: India’s Supreme Court, Anti-Terror Laws, and Social Rights.

Shylashri Shankar is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. She was previously an Assistant Professor in the Government Department at the University of Texas at Austin, and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre on Religion and Democracy at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. She has received degrees from the University of Delhi, University of Cambridge, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Columbia University. She is the author of Scaling Justice: India’s Supreme Court, Anti-Terror Laws, and Social Rights (Oxford Univ. Press 2008). She has written several articles in edited books on secularism, the judiciary in India and Sri Lanka, India’s courts and religious conversion, cross-judicial borrowing and national constitutions, among others. She has also written op-eds in national newspapers and magazines on democratic transition and consolidation in South Asia and the Middle East, judicial independence, ethnic conflict, and terrorism.

* * *

When: Mon, Jan 11, 2010, 4:30pm

Where: Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law, Rm 340
(reception to follow in 3rd Floor Gallery)
3320 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA

Open Program on Law and South Asian Studies
Annual Meeting, Association of American Law Schools
New Orleans, LA
Saturday, January 9, 2010

This session will consist of (1) a panel on contemporary issues in constitutional law and fundamental rights in South Asia (the papers from which will be published in the Drexel Law Review as part of its Symposium on Law and South Asia) and (2) a short business meeting on the formation of the proposed AALS Section on Law and South Asian Studies.

Opening Remarks:

• Marc Galanter, John and Rylla Bosshard Professor of Law and South Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, and Centennial Professor, Department of Law, London School of Economics and Political Science

Panelists:

• Sehla Ashai, Staff Attorney, National Immigrant Justice Center, Heartland Alliance, Chicago, IL — “Competing Constitutions: The State Subject Controversy of Jammu and Kashmir”

• Payal Shah, Legal Fellow for Asia, Center for Reproductive Rights, New York, NY — “Maternal Mortality in Nepal: A Case for Using International Law for Accountability and Justice”

• Shylashri Shankar, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Policy Research, Delhi, India — “The Spirit of the Constitution: Engaging with Foreign Judgments: India, Sri Lanka, and South Africa”

• Elisabeth Wickeri, Executive Director, Leitner Center for International Law & Justice, Fordham University Law School, New York, NY — “Towards a Lasting Peace in Nepal: Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in the New Constitution”

Moderator:

• Anil Kalhan, Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law, Philadelphia, PA

Registration and other details for the AALS Annual Meeting are available here.

How Does It Feel to Be a Problem?
Being Young and Arab in America

Just over a century ago, W.E.B. Du Bois posed a probing question in his classic The Souls of Black Folk: “How does it feel to be a problem?” he asked. Today, Arab and Muslim Americans, the newest minorities in the American imagination, are the latest “problem” of American society, and their answers to Du Bois’s question increasingly define what being American means today.

In a wholly revealing portrait of a community that lives next door and yet a world away, Moustafa Bayoumi introduces us to the individual lives of seven twentysomething men and women living in Brooklyn, home to the largest number of Arab Americans in the United States. Through telling real stories about young people in Brooklyn, Bayoumi jettisons the stereotypes and clichés that constantly surround Arabs and Muslims and allows us instead to enter their worlds and experience their lives. [link]

Panelists:
Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law- Moustafa Bayoumi, Associate Professor of English, Brooklyn College
- Jimmy Yan, General Counsel, Office of Manhattan Borough President
- Yasmin Dwedar

* * *

When: Thu, Dec 3, 2009, 4:30pm

Where: Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law, Rm 140
(reception and book signing to follow in 3rd Floor Gallery)
3320 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA

SIGN UP NOW for the next SABANY/SAALT
Lawyering for Social Change CLE Workshop

“Class & Work: Exploring the Rights of South Asians in the Workplace”

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
South Asians in the United States support the country’s economy by being employed in a range of occupations – from lawyers, doctors, and bankers to restaurant workers, taxiworkers, and domestic workers. Yet, many working-class South Asians confront significant legal challenges in the workplace, including exploitation by employers, threats of deportation, and denial of fair wages. During this interactive workshop, participants will learn about the range of legal obstacles that South Asian workers face; discuss the intersection of class and race; and learn how lawyers can provide their skills to assist individuals and organizations.

SPEAKERS:
Chitra Aiyar, Board Member, Andolan
Sheebani Patel, Organizer/Attorney, Restaurant Workers Opportunity Center of New York (ROC-NY)
Tushar Sheth, Attorney, Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund (AALDEF)

* * *

Fordham Law School, 140 W. 62nd StreetDATE: Wednesday, September 24th
TIME: 6:30-8:00pm (note: earlier start and end time than last month’s session)
LOCATION: Fordham Law School, 140 W 62nd Street, Room 310 (note: the room number is different from last month’s session)

RSVP TO: lawyering.for.social.change@gmail.com with your name, school/employer, address, and phone number

COST: Free!

PERKS: CLE Credit (for those who attend the entire session) and free dinner!

Cosponsored by the South Asian Bar Association of New York (SABANY), Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY), South Asian Americans Leading Together, and the Fordham South Asian Law Students Association

Join us on Wednesday, September 17th for a panel discussion on immigration policy and the challenges of organizing and advocating on behalf of immigrant workers, featuring Rinku Sen and Fekkak Mamdouh. In their new book, The Accidental American, Sen and Mamdouh “argue[] that, just as there is a free flow of capital in the world economy, there should be a free flow of labor”:

Author Rinku Sen alternates chapters telling the story of one “accidental American” — coauthor Fekkak Mamdouh, a Morrocan-born waiter at a restaurant in the World Trade Center whose life was thrown into turmoil on 9/11 — with a thorough critique of current immigration policy. Sen and Mamdouh describe how members of the largely immigrant food industry workforce managed to overcome divisions in the aftermath of 9/11 and form the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York (ROC-NY) to fight for jobs and more equitable treatment. This extraordinary story serves to illuminate the racial, cultural, and economic conflicts embedded in the current immigration debate and helps frame the argument for a more humane immigration and global labor system. [link]

The discussion will be moderated by Prof. Anil Kalhan, and will be followed by a reception in the Second Floor Gallery.

* * *

Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law When: Wed, Sep 17, 2008, 2:30-4:30pm

Where: Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law, Rm 440 (reception to follow in 2nd Floor Gallery), 3320 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA

Sponsored by the Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. For more information, please contact Nicole Aiken or Ryan Miller at drexelnlg@gmail.com.

* * *

Previously: Five Questions for Rinku Sen (SAJAforum).

AITZAZ AHSAN, LEADER OF PAKISTAN’S “LAWYERS’ MOVEMENT,” TO SPEAK AT NEW YORK CITY BAR

New York, NY, June 27, 2008 — Aitzaz Ahsan, President of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan and the leader of the “Lawyers’ Movement” in that country, will speak at the New York City Bar on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008, at 9:00 a.m. Mr. Ahsan will discuss the latest developments regarding the legal system and judicial independence in Pakistan.

Last November, members of the New York City Bar, along with the New York State Bar, the New York County Lawyers’ Association and other organizations, rallied in support of the lawyers and judges affected by the imposition of emergency rule in Pakistan and the deposing of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. Mr. Ahsan will provide an update on efforts to achieve, as he phrased it in a recent article in Newsweek, “Justice for our Justice,” and the reinstatement of other members of the judiciary.

“We have been very supportive of the efforts of Pakistan’s legal community to promote judicial independence and the rule of law, and are delighted that Mr. Ahsan is here to inform the New York City Bar of the progress on those fronts,” said Patricia M. Hynes, President of the New York City Bar.

***

Who:

Aitzaz Ahsan, President of Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association and “Lawyers’ Movement” leader

When:

Tuesday, July 1, 2008 at 9:00am

Where:

New York City Bar Association, 42 West 44th Street

About the New York City Bar
The New York City Bar Association (www.nycbar.org) was founded in 1870, and since then has been dedicated to maintaining the high ethical standards of the profession, promoting reform of the law, and providing service to the profession and the public. The Association continues to work for political, legal and social reform, while implementing innovative means to help the disadvantaged. Protecting the public’s welfare remains one of the Association’s highest priorities.

NYC Bar Association

More information:
Jayne Bigelsen: (212) 382-6655
Eric Friedman: (212) 382-6754

On Thursday April 24, 2008, the South Asian Bar Association of New York will host its fifth annual public interest fellowship benefit. The benefit raises money to provide fellowships for law students working in unpaid, public interest summer internships. At the event, the 2008 recipients will be announced. Information about past SABANY fellowship recipients is available here.

The guest speaker will be Muzaffar Chishti, Director of the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) office at NYU School of Law. Through his work at MPI, Mr. Chishti focuses on US immigration policy, the intersection of labor and immigration law, civil liberties, and immigrant integration. Prior to joining MPI, Mr. Chishti was Director of the Immigration Project of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial & Textile Employees (UNITE). Mr. Chishti has testified extensively on immigration policy issues before various Congressional committees. In 1992, as part of a US team, he assisted the Russian Parliament in drafting its legislation on forced migrants and refugees. He is a 1994 recipient of New York State Governor’s Award for Outstanding Asian Americans, and a 1995 recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. Mr. Chishti was educated at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi; the University of Delhi; Cornell Law School; and the Columbia School of International Affairs.

Join us at the TamarindArt Gallery on April 24th to support this important initiative! Tickets available here.

Fellowship Application Review Panel
Dimple Abichandani, Director of Program Development, Legal Services NYC
Sonia Katyal, Associate Professor of Law, Fordham University School of Law
Elchi Nowrojee, Director and Counsel, Credit Suisse

SABANY Public Interest Committee
Nisha Agarwal (Co-Chair) * Libby Babu* Sachin Bhatt * Sunu Chandy * Surya Ganguly * Sameera Hafiz * Anil Kalhan * Sandhya Kidd * Gowri Krishna * Vichal Kumar * Resham Mantri (Co-Chair) * Swati Parikh * Yogi Patel * Chai Shenoy * Amardeep Singh * Anand Swaminathan * Shweta Udeshi * Sunil Varghese * Hamel Vyas

Platinum Sponsors: Asian American Law Fund and Pfizer Inc.
Silver Sponsors: Asian American Bar Association of New York, Chadbourne & Parke LLP, Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP, and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

* * *

TamarindArt Gallery

When: Thursday, April 24, 2008, 7:00 p.m.

Where: TamarindArt Gallery

142 E. 39th Street

Tickets Purchased In Advance:

$50.00 for Private Sector

$25.00 for Public Interest Sector and Non-Attorneys

$15.00 for Law Students

Tickets Purchased At the Door:

$65.00 for Private Sector

$40.00 for Public Interest Sector and Non-Attorneys

$30.00 for Law Students

Tickets are available for advance purchase here.

If you are unable to join us April 24, 2008, please consider purchasing a $50 donation ticket to help support the SABANY Public Interest Fellowship Program. Contributions are tax deductible and will support the SABANY Fellowship Program.

A film screening and discussion with:
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Kiran Khalid, documentary filmmaker
Anil Kalhan ’93, Professor, Fordham Law School
Ali Ahsan, Speechwriter, United Nations

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Smith-Buonanno Hall, Brown University

When: Fri, Apr 11, 2008

4:00-6:00pm

Where: Brown University

Smith-Buonnano Hall, Rm 201

East of Brown Street between Meeting and Bowen Street, Providence, RI

Sponsored by Brown South Asian Students Association and Brown Journal of World Affairs

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The Center for Place, Culture & Politics Presents

Demystifying Pakistan: Understanding the Current Crisis

A panel discussion on the military in Pakistani politics, society and economy; emergency, martial law, and the rule of law in India and Pakistan; the rise and subsequent fall of electronic media under President Musharraf; and the politics of democratic protest in Pakistan.

Panelists:

Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa, Visiting Professor, South Asian Studies, University of Pennsylvania and author of Military, Inc. : Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy (Pluto Press, 2007).

Anil Kalhan, Visiting Assistant Professor, Fordham Law School.

Kiran Khalid, documentary film maker and producer, Good Morning America and director, “We Are Not Free,” a documentary short to be screened at the panel.

Dr. Sahar Shafqat, Associate Professor, St. Mary’s College of Maryland and Member of the anti-Musharraf/pro-democracy movement in Pakistan.

Moderated by Saadia Toor, Assistant Professor of Sociology, College of Staten Island.

CUNY Graduate Center* * *

When: Fri, Mar 28, 2008, 6:00-8:00pm

Where: CUNY Graduate Center

Baisley Powell Elebash Recital Hall
365 Fifth Ave, at 34 St, New York

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The Open Society Institute’s Middle East/North Africa Initiative invites you to:
NEGOTIATING HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE AFGHAN CONTEXT

Human rights advocates in Afghanistan must navigate a careful balance when promoting global human rights standards in a conservative Muslim society recovering from decades of conflict and extremism. Those charged with protecting human rights in Afghanistan must work in a context where Taliban and militia forces are resurgent, a powerful constituency of hardline conservatives support strict and narrow interpretations of Islamic law, and American-led forces continue to resist the application of international legal standards to their own detainees. A local court’s recent decision to levy the death penalty against a journalist accused of blasphemy further highlights the challenges of implementing human rights in Afghanistan today.

Featuring
NADER NADERY
FARID HAMIDI
And an additional speaker to be announced

Moderated by ARYEH NEIER

Nader Nadery is a lawyer, political analyst and social activist. Before being appointed as a member of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, he worked with the International Human Rights Law Group and served as a spokesman for the Emergency Loya Jirga. He is also a prominent leader in Afghan civil society and served as a representative to the Bonn peace talks. He is the recipient of several human rights awards, including the Reebok Human Rights Award.

Mohammad Farid Hamidi is a member of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. A well-known lawyer with extensive experience on criminology and investigation, he also served as a member of the Emergency Loya Jirga, where he was responsible for developing rules and regulation for election. He has worked closely with the Judicial Reform Commission in the training of Afghan lawyers and judges on international human rights law and standards.

Aryeh Neier is President of the Open Society Institute. Prior to joining OSI, he served for 12 years as Executive Director of Human Rights Watch. He also spent 15 years at the American Civil Liberties Union, including 8 years as national Executive Director. Neier has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York University for more than a dozen years, and is the author of six books and numerous articles on human rights.

Open Society Institute, 400 West 59th Street* * *

Thursday, February 28th, 6:00-8:00pm

Open Society Institute
400 West 59th Street
New York, NY 10019
Conference Room 3AB

Refreshments will be served

RSVP TO cepopenforum@sorosny.org
Please include your full name and affiliation.

Please join the South Asian Bar Association of New York for its first dinner series event of 2008:

Democracy and the Rule of Law in Pakistan in the Aftermath of Elections:
A Conversation With Ali Ahsan

On Monday, February 18th, Pakistan will hold general elections, culminating a year of tremendous political controversy and uncertainty but also a year of tremendous political activism and mobilized civic engagement. Will the coming elections be free and fair? In the aftermath of elections, what are the prospects for democracy and the rule of law in Pakistan?

Join SABANY for a post-election conversation with Ali Ahsan, a New York lawyer and SABANY member who is also the son of the leader of the Lawyers’ Movement in Pakistan. He recently returned to New York after spending two months in Pakistan, where his father remains in detention under house arrest. The conversation will be moderated by Anil Kalhan, visiting professor at Fordham University Law School.

Date:
Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Diwan RestaurantVenue:
Diwan Restaurant
148 E. 48th Street (Between 3rd Ave and Lexington)
New York, NY 10017

Time:
7-9pm

Admission*:
SABANY Members $25
SABANY Public Interest Members and Students: $15
Non-Members $35

*Admission also includes a 3 course meal.

RSVP to Swati Parikh at swatiparikh@gmail.com

Whose Children Are These?
(2004, prod. & dir. Theresa Thanjan), 28 min

Whose Children Are These? provides a gripping view into the lives of three Muslim teenagers impacted by domestic national security measures. One such program, “Special Registration,” required male non-citizens, as young as 16 from 25 countries, to register with the Department of Justice. Of those who registered, nearly 14,000 men were deported. The film introduces Navila, an honors student who fought to have her father released from detention; Sarfaraz, a popular basketball player who confronts pending deportation; and Hager, a young woman who faces bias and is spurred into activism as a result. Each young person comes from one of the twenty five countries profiled by the Special Registration program (Bangladesh, Pakistan and Egypt).

From the period of November 2002-December 2003, over 83,000 Muslim men complied with the program and nearly 14,000 were put into deportation proceedings due to immigration status violations. Although the program claimed to be a tool to increase national security, none of these men were actually charged with terrorism related offenses.

Through the eyes of three courageous teens, Whose Children Are These? brings to light the harsh realities faced by Muslim communities in post 9/11 America— including family separation, round ups, bias crimes, detentions, and deportations.

“Whose Children Are These?” is a presentation of the Center for Asian American Media with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding was provided by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the New York Foundation for the Arts and numerous private donors.

Fordham Law School, 140 W. 62nd StreetDiscussion with filmmaker Theresa Thanjan to follow. More information here and here.

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When: Mon, Mar 3, 2008, 6:00-7:30pm

Where: Fordham Law School, Rm 204
140 W. 62nd Street, between Amsterdam & Columbus Avs, New York

Sponsored by the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice, Fordham Muslim Law Students Association, Fordham South Asian Law Students Association, and Prof. Anil Kalhan.

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The Center for Human Rights and Global Justice and the South Asian Bar Association of New York would like to invite you to a Fundraising Reception for the CHRGJ’s Documentary Project:

AMERICANS ON HOLD
PROFILING, CITIZENSHIP, AND THE “WAR ON TERROR”

Space is limited.
Please RSVP by February 5 to aohihrc@nyu.edu or by calling 646-438-2341

Suggested Donation: $250 per person

What: An enlightening and intimate evening of refreshments, cocktails, live music from classical guitarist Daniel Reyes-Llinas, and a dramatic reading of testimonials by actor Riz Mirza and company. The performance will be complemented by brief presentations featuring Center director Smita Narula, documentary filmmaker Bill Horn, and community leader, Mohammad Razvi.

Who: Civil society members, concerned members of the New York Legal Community, representatives from the film industry, members of the human rights community. All donors will receive credit in the documentary, ranging from “supporters” to “producers.”

Why: Since September 11, 2001 expanded security checks have illegally delayed thousands of citizenship applications from Muslim, South Asian, Middle Eastern, and Arab men. This counter-terrorism dragnet is breaking up families, engendering fear and insecurity, and disenfranchising communities. Come learn about our documentary and lend your support to this important project to demand accountability, motivate policy change, and ensure immigrants’ rights.

NYU President’s Penthouse, 37 Washington Square West, 18th Floor, New York, NYWhen: February 7, 2008 (7pm to 10pm)

Where: NYU President’s Penthouse
37 Washington Square West, 18th Floor
New York, NY

Background:

Profiled Immigrants Delayed Years in Seeking Citizenship (CHRGJ Press Release, Apr. 25, 2007)

Full Report (63 pages), Briefing Report (12 pages), and a one-page summary in Arabic and Urdu

Event flyer available here. Pledge form available here.