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May 12, 2016

Pioneering Human Rights Lawyer Michael Ratner Dies at 72
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The pioneering human rights attorney Michael Ratner has died at the age
of 72. For over four decades, he defended victims of human rights abuses
across the world, from Haiti and Guatemala to Iraq and the Palestinian
territories. Ratner served as the longtime president of the Center for
Constitutional Rights. In 2002, the center brought the first case
against the George W. Bush administration for the indefinite detention
of prisoners at Guantánamo. The Supreme Court eventually sided with the
center in a landmark 2008 decision when it struck down the law that
stripped Guantánamo prisoners of their habeas corpus rights. In recent
years he was the chief attorney for Wiki Leaks founder Julian Assange
and became a leading critic of the U.S. crackdown on whistleblowers,
including Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden. We'll spend the hour
honoring the life and legacy of Michael Ratner.


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