Habeas corpus victory for Asylum and Human Rights Clinic

April 9, 2010

The Boston University Asylum and Human Rights Clinic, working with alumna Elizabeth Badger (’05) of Human Rights USA, succeeded on March 18 in a petition for habeas corpus in the District Court of the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

The client is a stateless Palestinian convicted under the broad material support for terrorism provisions of the USA Patriot Act. His computer company had worked with one of the Muslim charities the U.S. government has charged as a terrorist organization. "The client had worked with the charity prior to its designation as such," explained Professor Susan Akram. "Given his convictions and statelessness, we anticipated that the government would deem him non-removable, but subject to indefinite detention under 8 C.F.R. sec. 241.14."

The client had been held in immigration detention for 13 months, seven months past what the U.S. Supreme Court has determined to be a “presumptively reasonable period of detention in order to effectuate removal” in Zadvydas v. Davis.

In fall 2009, BU Law authorized the legal team to pursue the case, with the goal to free him from "indefinite immigration detention." Professor Akram worked alongside her student attorneys Jennifer Klein ('10) and Emily Tucker ('10), and with co-counsel Attorney Badger, mostly communicating with their client via conference calls and mail.

The client, detained in York, Penn., was not fighting his removal order. In order to help facilitate his removal, the client had applied to dozens of countries for a visa only to be rejected. It was also legally impossible for him to return to Israel or Palestine. “However, the government continued to argue that he was removable and that they had the right to continue to detain him even though they chose not to invoke the controversial national security regulations regarding indefinite detention,” said Klein.

In the end, Judge Muir of the Middle District of Pennsylvania agreed that the government could not meet its burden of showing his removal was reasonably foreseeable, and ordered the client's release within the next three weeks.

"We did not know how long the litigation would last, or what the government’s real interests were in keeping the client detained," said Akram. "Our client, his family and our legal team are too thrilled for words. Kudos particularly to student attorneys Klein and Tucker, with whom we worked closely in D.C., and our client's family, who were with us every step of the way."

Students in the Civil Litigation Program's AHR Clinic work for credit under the supervision of two full-time BU clinical faculty in the offices of Greater Boston Legal Services in downtown Boston. Students represent asylum seekers affirmatively in front of the U.S.C.I.S. (Department of Homeland Security), in removal proceedings before Immigration Court (Department of Justice), in appeals before the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) or the Circuit Court of Appeals, and in claims for release from immigration detention before the Federal District Courts. Students also handle Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) cases, temporary restraining orders in Probate and Family Court, and other immigration, humanitarian, and human rights-related cases. Because detained cases can take a long time to complete, and require significantly more student and supervisor resources than non-detained cases, the clinic does not handle more than one or two detained cases at any time. The clinic has a docket of two dozen cases, in different stages of administrative proceedings or litigation.

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Reported by Sandi Miller

Opening day at Jerry Remy's

by Sandi Miller
Boston Restaurant Examiner

Well, it wasn't opening day, but it was the VIP and media opening day at Jerry Remy's new sports bar a block away from Fenway, on Boylston Street. It wasn't entering the hallowed ground of the Red Sox ballpark, but it certainly was fun. Mayor Menino was there to wish his best, throwing out "the first ball" to Remy a few steps away, as the crowd surrounded them.

For his part, Remy thanked the "investors who stepped forward, who saw the vision despite this economy." His partner, John O'Rourke, told the crowd of the idea he and Remy had for the restaurant five years ago. But it took awhile to secure financing. Remy, the color analyst for New England Sports Network, had also recently recovered from lung cancer surgery.

But the brick and dark-wood bar, which will be serving steak as well as bar food underneath a dozen or so big-screen TVs, was packed for Sunday's opener against the Yankees. It's already sold out of the 150 "season passes" -- at $500 each, which guarantees the buyer a table during every crazed home games that normally pack every sports bar in the perimeter, plus a beer and $25 of food per game. There's also season passes still available for away games. Remy also plans to sell similar passes for the Celtics, the Patriots and the Bruins.

For now, the restaurant offers a huge patio space along Boylston Street, and also an open window in the back for a view of Fenway a ball's throw away to at least hear the action if you don't have a ticket.

A long bar has a great beer selection including Bear Republic, Victory, Delirium Tremens, and the Remy Red Ale made by Ipswich Ale. The dining area has standing bartops as well as swanky half-rounds of leather banquettes beneath relatively tasteful displays of Sox memorabilia. Didn't get to try the actual menu, although James Beard award winning chef Todd Hall was serving sushi that we were told will eventually make it to the rooftop beer garden that's still under construction.

This is a great addition to the Fenway scene. Welcome!