STANFORD, Calif., July 9, 2007—Stanford Law School today announced the appointment of Barbara Olshansky as the Leah Kaplan Visiting Professor in Human Rights. Olshansky will lead a clinic in international human rights and teach a seminar in international law during the 2007-2008 academic year.

Olshansky is known for her groundbreaking work on the 2004 Rasul v. Bush case, in which the Supreme Court of the United States overruled a lower court ruling and found that American courts have jurisdiction over claims brought by Guantánamo detainees who are foreign nationals. The case was the first major test of whether the executive branch had exceeded its powers in asserting Guantánamo Bay was outside the jurisdiction of any court. Subsequently, Olshansky led the Guantánamo Global Justice Initiative at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York City, a litigation and advocacy project “dedicated to challenging rendition, arbitrary detention, and interrogation under torture committed as part of the United States’ global ‘war on terror.’”

“Barbara Olshansky has proven herself to be a visionary lawyer with the talent and tenacity to achieve remarkable results, particularly in the area of international human rights,” said Lawrence C. Marshall, David and Stephanie Mills Director of Clinical Education and Associate Dean for Public Interest and Clinical Education. “We’re excited to work with her next year to explore ways in which the clinical program can further enhance its role in teaching students to practice in this area.” Prior to her appointment to the Global Justice Initiative, Olshansky served as CCR’s deputy legal director, where her docket included class action lawsuits concerning immigrants’ rights, prisoners’ rights, Native American rights, the environment, public health, and race discrimination in employment and education. In 2005, the Stanford Public Interest Law Foundation honored Olshansky as Public Interest Lawyer of the Year.

“The work of people like Barbara Olshansky is ultimately work that holds up a mirror to us and makes us confront ourselves. It’s people like Barbara who force us to be our best selves,” said Stanford Law School Dean Larry Kramer.

At Stanford Law School, she will lead a clinic that will focus on human rights and the rule of law in developing nations, as part of the Stanford Legal Clinic, the law school’s clinical education program.

“I am very excited about being given this amazing opportunity to work with the students and faculty at Stanford Law School,” said Olshansky. “I cannot think of a better place in which to help prepare the next generation of people’s lawyers for their role in the continuing fight for justice and progressive social change. The law school’s—and the University’s—commitment to furthering human rights and development around the world provides the best possible foundation for this work at a time when leadership with integrity is most sorely needed.”

Olshansky earned a JD from Stanford Law School in 1985 and majored in intellectual history and political science at the University of Rochester. While a student at Stanford Law School, she helped establish the East Palo Alto Community Law Project to serve low-income residents. She clerked for two years for former California Supreme Court Chief Justice Rose Bird; served for five years as a union and plaintiff’s employment discrimination lawyer at Vladeck, Waldman, Elias & Engelhard, P.C. in New York; joined the Environmental Defense Fund where she argued cases involving toxic contamination; and then joined CCR, the nonprofit legal organization founded in 1966 to represent civil rights demonstrators in the South.

About Stanford Legal Clinic

Stanford Law School runs a variety of clinics that litigate in a number of specialized fields, including immigrants’ rights, community law, cyberlaw, environmental protection, and educational advocacy. The clinics operate cohesively as a single law firm—the Stanford Legal Clinic (SLC)—and provide pro bono representation to the public. Clinical courses are structured as supervised settings that teach students: how to work with clients and colleagues, how to address the ethical dilemmas that arise in practice, and how to apply legal concepts taught hypothetically or in the abstract in the classroom to a real world, client representation situation.

About Stanford Law School

Stanford Law School is one of the nation’s leading institutions for legal scholarship and education. Its alumni are among the most influential decision makers in law, politics, business, and high technology. Faculty members argue before the Supreme Court, testify before Congress, and write books and articles for academic audiences, as well as the popular press. Along with offering traditional law school classes, the school has embraced new subjects and new ways of teaching. he school’s home page is located at www.law.stanford.edu.

—30—

EDITORIAL CONTACT
Amy Poftak
Assistant Director of Communications
Stanford Law School
650.725.7516
poftak@law.stanford.edu
www.law.stanford.edu/news