Seattle Human Rights Network

Professor Sumi Cho

DePaul University

“Critical Race Resistance in the ‘Post-Racial’ Era”

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

12-1:30 p.m., Justice Fred H. Dore Courtroom

Sullivan Hall, Seattle University School of Law
Professor Sumi Cho employs a critical race feminist approach to her work on affirmative action, sexual harassment, legal history, and civil rights. She speaks nationally on these issues, as well as racial profiling, multiracial politics and coalitions, and remedial theories.  She was the principal investigator for a Civil Liberties Public Education Fund grant on the first coordinated legal research on Japanese American interment, redress, and reparations.  In addition to a J.D., Professor Cho holds a Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies from the University of California at Berkeley.  She serves on several boards, including the African American Policy Forum, the Asian American Institute, and LatCrit. The AALS Minority Groups section honored her with the first Junior Faculty Award. Professor Cho has served as a visiting professor at the University of Michigan and University of Iowa law schools.  She has been published in the University of California at Davis Law Review; the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law; the University of Iowa’s Journal of Gender, Race and Justice; and both the Law Review and Third World Law Journal of Boston College. Professor Cho’s recent publications include: From Massive to Passive to Righteous Resistance: Understanding the Culture Wars from Brown to Grutter,   7 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 809 (2005); and Understanding White Women’s Ambivalence Towards Affirmative Action: Theorizing Political Accountability in Coalitions, 71 UMKC L. Rev. 399 (2002);

Date: Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Time: 6:00 - 7:20 p.m.
Location : Seattle University Law, Sullivan Hall, Room 109
Cost: FREE
Reception to follow 7:30 - 8:30 p.m.

This event is co-sponsored by:
ACLU, Seattle University chapter
National Lawyers Guild, Seattle University chapter
Seattle University Public Interest Law Foundation

Seattle University Human Rights Network 

Only two hours before the State of Georgia was scheduled to execute Troy Anthony Davis, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay until the Court can decide whether to hear the case.  To date, no federal court has heard evidence in the case of Mr. Davis, who was convicted of murdering a police officer 19 years ago. 

There was no physical evidence linking Mr. Davis to the murder, and he was convicted based on the testimony of 9 witnesses.  7 of these witnesses have since recanted, claiming their statements implicating Mr. Davis were the result of police coercion. Several world leaders, including former-President Jimmy Carter and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, have challenged the fairness of Mr. Davis’s conviction.

The Supreme Court will reconvene on Monday and decide whether to hear Mr. Davis’s case.  If the Court declines the case, the stay will terminate and the State of Georgia will proceed with the execution.  Lawyers for Mr. Davis have asked the Court to consider the issue of whether the 8th Amendment bars the execution of an innocent man.

The University of Washington School of Law has just announced the Gates Public Service Law Speaker Series.  All of these events are open to students from either school.

Vincent Warren
Director of Center for Constitutional Rights

Monday, September 29, 2008, 3:00-5:00 pm
Room 133, University of Washington School of Law

Hon. Richard Paez
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Monday, October 27, 2008, 4:00-5:00 pm
Room 133, University of Washington School of Law

Karen J. Hanrahan ’00
Vice President for International Peace and Stability at MPRI, an L-3 Communications company

Monday, November 17, 2008, 4:00-6:00 pm
Room 133, University of Washington School of Law

John McKay
Seattle University professor and former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington
Hon. Don Horowitz
retired King County Superior Court Judge

Monday, February 2, 2009 4:00-6:00 pm
Room 138, University of Washington School of Law

PS I am looking into RSVP requirements and will post more later.

No need to RSVP just show up!

This was an amazing presentation by six Seattle University Law students who interviewed 41 detainees of the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington. The report found massive violations of due process, poor medical care, poor living conditions and no access to attorneys in the face of indefinite imprisonment.  The report is painful, I strongly recommend reading it.  You can download the report here.

We are One America has a good short summary of the report:

SEATTLE—The findings of Voices from Detention: A Report on Human Rights Violations at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) confirm human rights abuses are taking place at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility on the tide flats of Tacoma. This report (read the Executive Summary here) is one of the first of its kind to measure conditions at a detention center with international human rights legal standards and U.S. Constitutional protections. It is a collaboration between OneAmerica, a nonprofit organization advancing immigrant, civil and human rights in Seattle and the Seattle University School of Law International Human Rights Clinic.

Read the full article at We Are One America

Title: “Voices from Detention”
Date: Monday, September 22nd (Today!)
Location: Seattle University Law
Time: Noon to 12:50 p.m.
Room: C5

Come hear from law students from the International Human Rights Clinic who will discuss a report they wrote on conditions in the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.

This report was written under the supervision of clinic faculty and in collaboration with OneAmerica who designed the study, interviewed the detainees, and wrote the report which received media attention.

For more information, see: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/370806_detention15.html and http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008084864_bishop01.html.

Cookies and refreshments will be provided.

Co-sponsored by:
SU School of Law’s International Human Rights Clinic
Society for Immigrant and Refugee Justice

The State of Georgia is scheduled to execute Troy Anthony Davis on September 23, despite strong evidence suggesting his innocence.  There is no physical evidence against Mr. Davis, no weapon has been found,  and the entire case against him was based on witness testimony.

Seven out of nine of the witnesses who testified against Mr. Davis have recanted their testimony, many stating that they were pressured or coerced to testify against Mr. Davis.  Multiple witnesses have said that one of the two witnesses who has not changed his testimony, Sylvester “Redd” Coles, has admitted to the killing.

To date, no federal court has reviewed the evidence against Mr. Davis.  The United States Supreme Court is scheduled to make a decision on whether to hear Mr. Davis’ appeal on September 29th: 6 days after he is executed. 

On September 12th, the Board of Clemency denied clemency for Mr. Davis, even after stating last year that they would “not allow an execution to proceed in this State unless and until its members are convinced that there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused.”

Seattle University faculty member Rob Smith is in Georgia gathering evidence to support a stay of Mr. Davis’s execution.  More information will be posted about this case in the coming days, but your urgent action is needed to ensure that Georgia does not wrongly execute Mr. Davis.

Click here to contact the Board of Clemency and urge them to reconsider their decision.

Click here to learn more about the case of Troy Davis

Speakers from Aswat (The Palestinian Gay Women Organization) and GALZ (Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe) are speaking at Seattle University Law this Thursday. ASWAT is a pioneer group of Palestinian gay women that advocates for LGBT through education, empowerment and outreach programs in the context of the struggle of the Palestinian people. GALZ is an organization advocating for the human rights and HIV/AIDS care of Zimbabwe’s LGBT community despite limitations in the country’s government.

Date: Thursday, September 18, 2008
Time: 6:00 - 7:20 p.m.
Location : Seattle University Law, Sullivan Hall, Room C1
Cost: FREE
Reception to follow 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. 2nd Floor Gallery

This event is co-sponsored by:
Amnesty International Puget Sound
Middle Eastern Student Association
Outlaws

Welcome this is the New Seattle Human Rights Network website and blog.

Here is a little about us:

The Seattle Human Rights Network is an independent student led organization that focuses on activism in the area of international human rights law.  The network promotes human rights activism and awareness by organizing or sponsoring forums, debates, films and inviting guest speakers.  The Seattle Human Rights Network also works actively to build the local human rights community through education and outreach.

Our current board consists of:

Amy Pritchard 3L
Brian Rowe 3L
Naomi Strand 2L
Christina Xenides 3L

We will be blogging at least one or two times a week about upcomming events and general human rights issues.