WASHINGTON — An all-star team of lawyers has launched a new institute dedicated to using the court system to defend the rights and values in the United States Constitution.
The Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection opened Wednesday at Georgetown University’s Law Center.
Founding lawyers Neal Katyal, Joshua Geltzer and Mary McCord said their goal is to work with law students to defend constitutional rights in regards to immigration, discrimination, privacy, national security and whistleblower protection.
Katyal, who will be the institute’s faculty director, argued Hamdan v. Rumsfeld to the Supreme Court, which resulted in a landmark decision in 2006 that ensured that the Geneva Convention would apply across the globe. Katyal is currently representing Hawaii in its lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s travel ban.
The new institute’s first case will be a class-action suit against Harris County, Texas’ practice of locking up defendants who can’t pay bail while releasing those who can afford it.
