Center for Constitutional Rights
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The Center for Constitutional Rights[1]
Contents |
[edit] Background
(CCR) is a legal advocacy organization based in New York, USA, which was founded as a non-profit entitity in 1966. During the 1970s, the Center for Constitutional Rights brought and won the case Monell v. Department of Social Services, which enabled private individuals and civil rights groups to enforce the Constitution in court.
The Center, originally the Law Center for Constitutional Rights, developed when lawyers representing American Civil Rights Movement activists in Mississippi saw a need for a privately funded legal center to support proactive litigation. These founding lawyers were Morton Stavis, Arthur Kinoy, Ben Smith and William Kunstler. The CCR continued their tradition of representing rights activists, and was involved in a variety of landmark and famous cases:
- Founder William Kunstler and co-counsel Leonard Weinglass played a leading role in the case of the Chicago 7 (8), and were themselves charged with 38 counts of contempt for their "vigorous defense".
- In 1972, United States v. United States District Court the Court unanimously declared that engaging in domestic electronic surveillance without a warrant is unconstitutional.
- The 1979 decision in Filártiga v. Peña-Irala, using the then-obscure Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) of 1789, opened the U.S. courts for victims of human rights crimes to bring suit against perpetrators from anywhere.
- By working through the courts with the government of the Philippines, CCR achieved a ruling to allow the potentially illegal assets of Ferdinand Marcos to be frozen until a court could adjudiciate the case in Republic of the Philippines v. Marcos.
- In 1999, continuing a series of clashes with U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, CCR secured the release of Hany Kiareldeen in a precedent-setting case on the use of secret evidence in deportation trials.
The CCR has been active in a wide range of fields, from providing legal services to U.S. servicemen accused of criminal conduct[2] during the Vietnam Conflict to government corruption in Puerto Rico and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
[edit] Current Activities and Litigation
Recently the CCR has filed lawsuits on behalf of suspected Al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners detained at Guantanamo Bay.
The CCR has also sought criminal investigation in Germany of U.S. officials, notably United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, for alleged war crimes in the Abu Ghraib prison.
CCR has also been an outspoken supporter of radical lawyer Lynne Stewart who was convicted of providing material support to a terrorist conspiracy.
CCR has called for the impeachment[3] of US President George W. Bush.
[edit] Criticism
- Critics of the Center for Constitutional Rights describe it as a left wing anti-American law firm that is attempting to undermine the foundations of American society. E.g. Matthew Vadum of Capital Research Center called CCR The Terrorists' Legal Team[4].
[edit] Trivia
- Rachel Meeropol, an attorney for the CCR, is the granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted and executed for providing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) Mission and Vision
- ^ CCR: Our History
- ^ CCR: Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush
- ^ The Terrorists’ Legal Team: Case By Case, The Center for Constitutional Rights Undermines America by Matthew Vadum in Organization Trends
[edit] External links
- Official site
- CCR on MySpace
- History
- Interview with the President of CCR, Michael Ratner, on PBS Frontline which aired 10/18/05
- WNYC News: A Guantanamo Diary with audio and pictures
- CCR's newest endeavor: Prison Telephone Project
- Hamdi vs. Rumsfeld U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit - FindLaw
- PBS: David Brancaccio: Ron Daniels of the Center for Constitutional Rights
- Human Rights Now article
- Morton Stavis The People's Defense Lawyer
- Profile by DiscoverTheNetworks.org
