We should all be concerned about human rights and about the negative effects of the Bush administration has had in that area—the torture, the unwarranted wiretapping, the disregard for the Constitution. No matter who wins in November, there will be a unique opportunity in the coming months to reverse those harmful policies—to move beyond the secrecy. Beyond the rendition. Beyond Guantanamo. And this is how we’re going to do it…

Vincent Warren became executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in 2006. Before that, he spent seven years as national senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), where he led national constitutional and impact litigation to advance civil rights and civil liberties. In that capacity, he litigated Gratz v. Bollinger, the companion to the landmark case upholding affirmative action in college admissions.

Beyond the courtroom, he was a leading African American voice for affirmative action, collaborating with the African American Policy Forum to launch a national public education project about local policies to remedy systemic discrimination.

At the ACLU he also litigated Dasrath v. Continental Airlines on behalf of plaintiffs removed from an airplane shortly after 9/11 because they were perceived to be Arab or Muslim. Vince coordinated the ACLU's Hurricane Katrina Response Team; established the ACLU Native American Working Group to advance civil rights and combat educational discrimination in the Dakotas; and created and chaired the New York Indigent Defense Litigation Roundtable.

Vince has also worked as a staff attorney in the criminal defense division of the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn, the single largest provider of criminal defense services for the City of New York. His public service includes working as a judicial law clerk in the U.S. District Court in New York; monitoring the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Hearings in South Africa under the auspices of the National Lawyers Guild; and serving as a volunteer with the Haitian Refugee Center in Miami.

Time: 4-5:30p