Winter 2007 - 40 Years of IRR

Human Rights

Message from the President on the Section's 40th Anniversary: The Long Road

by Karen J. Mathis

Prior to IRR's formation four decades ago, some Americans were pleading for the most basic of rights. IRR has an extraordinary impact on the ABA, on its policies, and on the nation and will continue to be relevant as the profession travels the road ahead.

Rule Of Law

Defending Liberty and the Rule of Law After September 11

by Mark D. Agrast

When civil rights and liberties are under assault, the voice of IRR is never silent. In the nearly six years following September 11, that voice has never been needed more to uphold the freedoms and the rule of law that define our nation.

Human Rights

Past as Prologue: The Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities at Forty Years

by Michael S. Greco

Despite its modest size, IRR has attracted many leaders and doers. In its forty years, the Section has become a leader in policy development and issue advocacy, having a profound impact on the rights and liberties of all Americans.

Rule Of Law

Protecting and Advancing the International Rule of Law

by Walter H. White Jr.

The ABA and IRR have achieved a great deal in this country and abroad to steer our world in positive directions. It is critical that the Section not only continues past successes but also finds new ways to promote and advance the rule of law.

Human Rights

Civil Rights and the American Bar Association

by Paul M. Igasaki

The United States is a nation of diversity, continuously overcoming ignorance and biases. Irr, often considered the conscience of the profession, will continue to play a leading role in the civil rights challenges that will emerge in the future.

Human Rights

Reproductive Privacy Rights: What Direction Does the Chill Wind Blow?

by Sarah Weddington and Seth Kretzer

Changes in the U.S. Supreme Court and increasing state efforts to limit the legality of abortion have left an uncertain future for women and their right to reproductive privacy. Recent decisions in the Gonzales cases are expected to trigger even more political debate.

Human Rights

The Chill Wind Blows

As this Human Rights issue was going into production, the U.S. Supreme Court held that, contrary to the lower courts' decisions, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 is constitutional even if it does not provide explicitly for exceptions to the use of the banned procedure in cases where it is medically necessary to protect women's health.

Human Rights

Health Information Privacy Protection: A Critical and Evolving Challenge

by Robyn S. Shapiro

As health care delivery becomes increasingly dependent on complex information systems, significant privacy and confidentiality concerns have developed. Medical advances are a certainty, and with them, additional developments in law relating to personal information will follow.

Human Rights

Technology and Privacy: Old Problems and New Challenges

by Marc Rotenberg

In the 1960s, Congress began looking at how best to safeguard the fundamental right of privacy in a world increasingly transformed by new technology. As the technology will only become more sophisticated, the Section and the ABA will continue to face many more challenges to privacy protection.

Human Rights

IRR Then and Now: Two Presidential Reflections

Two past presidents of the ABA reflect on the years they spent as IRR chairs and the challenges they faced and how those challenges have resurfaced in recent years.

Human Rights

Human Rights Heroes: Our Leaders and Members

by Father Robert F. Drinan, S.J.

IRR's fortieth anniversary reminds us of those who have worked tirelessly over four decades in the endless struggle for human rights.