Rule of Law Defenders

In 1957, Charles Rhyne, president of the American Bar Association (ABA) — the world’s largest voluntary organization of lawyers and judges — envisioned a special day for celebrating the ideals of our legal system.A year later, embracing this vision amidst a global Cold War characterized by freedom’s rule of law versus communism’s rule by law, President Dwight D. Eisenhower established “Law Day” as one of national dedication to rule of law principles. In 1961, Congress made May 1 the official date for celebrating it.This year’s Law Day theme, “The Rule of Law and the American Dream,” highlights the fact that the rule of law — the idea that no person is above the law — is indispensable to the human right to live free and pursue ones dreams.That’s why cylindr and the Alliance for American Rule of Law teamed up this year on a Voices for the Rule of Law campaign: To give rule of law defenders (lawyers, journalists, citizen-advocates) a Law Day forum to declare what the rule of law means to me. Their compelling answers can be found in this special Law Day edition of cylindr’s Rule of Law Defenders podcast — recorded both in-studio and remotely.Have a listen. Share the episode. Let us know what you think in the comments and say what the rule of law means to you. And let’s save our democracy — for the better.#TreatPeopleRightcylindr is reader-supported. To receive new posts and podcasts, become a free or paid subscriber! Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

Catherine Hanssens has specialized in HIV and sexual health legal and policy issues since 1984, and is a seasoned litigator, legislative lawyer, community organizer, and policy advocate.A long-time activist for personal autonomy in sexual, reproductive, and healthcare decision-making, she is Founder and Executive Director Emerita of The Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP) which, under her leadership, was the first organization in the U.S. to challenge and organize against state and federal laws that rely on HIV status as a basis for criminal liability.She continues to consult with state and national organizations and researchers on projects related to the criminalization of sex and identity; the application of federal disability law in criminal justice settings; reproductive health and rights; non-profit leadership; organization creation and working with fiscal sponsors, succession planning, and fundraising for new/grassroots organizations.She also has decades of experience as a drafter of state and federal bills and legislative analysis; and is expert on the needs of LGBTQ people and those living with HIV in the criminal legal system, having written and advocated widely on those issues.cylindr is reader-supported. To receive new posts and podcasts, become a free or paid subscriber! Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

Elise Groulx Diggs is Door Tenant at 9 Bedford Row Chamber in London; Honorary President of the International Criminal Bar; criminal defence lawyer; legal advisor on international criminal law; and an accredited mediator. She is ranked by Chambers & Partners Global Guide as an Eminent Practitioner in the field of Business and Human Rights and was President of the International Criminal Defence Attorneys Association (ICDAA) for more than 15 years. She is regarded as “an innovator” and “a top expert in the field” and been hailed for her “unflagging commitment to business and human rights;” for her depth of expertise about the multiple forms of hard and soft law across the world related to that dynamic field; and her “extraordinary network of contacts in the public and private sector that give her unparalleled access to thought leaders around the globe.” She advises NGOs, governmental bodies, and corporations on human rights due diligence, legislation drafting, and the development of frameworks for policy implementation. She is also active in various research projects designed to promote corporate social responsibility and tackle issues of modern slavery. cylindr is reader-supported. To receive new posts and podcasts, become a free or paid subscriber! Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

Desirée Cormier Smith is a co-founder and co-president of the Alliance for Diplomacy and Justice. She is also an inaugural Senior Fellow in the newly launched Human Rights & US Foreign Policy Fellowship at the Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights at the Harvard Kennedy School and an inaugural Alcee L. Hastings Global Futures Fellow at Howard University’s Ralph Bunche International Affairs Center. From 2022 until 2025, she served as the US Department of State’s inaugural Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice. Previously, she served as the Senior Advisor in the Department of State’s Bureau of International Organization Affairs, and worked at the Open Society Foundations as the Senior Policy Advisor for Africa, Europe, and Eurasia. Before that she was the Senior Director with Albright Stonebridge Group’s Africa Practice, where she advised and assisted private and social sector clients on growth strategies across the African continent. She began her career as a State Department Foreign Service Officer with assignments in Mexico, South Africa, and Washington, DC.Jessica Stern is also Co-Founder and Co-President of the Alliance for Diplomacy and Justice and an expert in gender, sexuality and human rights with more than two decades of leadership across government, civil society, multilateral institutions, philanthropy, and academia. She also serves as an inaugural Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights, where she is pioneering new fellowships on global LGBTQI+ equality and inclusive foreign policy. She is the first LGBTQI+ rights expert to hold a senior fellowship at the Kennedy School. From 2021 to 2025, she served as US Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons, where she directed US foreign policy to combat discrimination and violence worldwide. As Special Envoy, she represented the United States bilaterally, mobilized government coalitions, and oversaw policies and programs disbursing millions in foreign assistance. Previously, she served as Executive Director of Outright International, one of the world’s largest global LGBTQI+ rights NGOs. At Columbia University, she teaches the first and only course on LGBTQI+ rights and public policy at the School of International and Public Affairs; and she lectures at Leiden University’s Summer School on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in International Law, the premier academic intensive for students and practitioners in the field. Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

Jessica So is an international human rights lawyer and advocate with more than a decade of global experience leading high-impact initiatives, including eight years based in Myanmar, Lebanon, and Jordan. She’s an expert in trial monitoring, fair trial rights, and fundamental freedoms, with deep experience in cross-cultural lawyering, managing multi-stakeholder programs, and conducting research in challenging environments. Most recently, she served as an International Legal Advisor at the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights, where she led programs focused on trial monitoring, press freedom, and environmental defenders. She has authored or co-authored more than 15 reports published by leading international organizations. Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

Sasha Filippova serves as Senior Staff Attorney at the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), where she focuses primarily on accountability for human rights violations; gender justice, including sexual and gender-based violence; and governance. A US-based human rights non-profit organization, established in 2004, IJDH is a partnership of human rights advocates in Haiti and the US dedicated to tackling the root causes of injustice that impacts basic human rights in Haiti.Prior to joining IJDH, Sasha served as a Senior Legal Fellow with the Center for Justice and Accountability, where she worked on litigating a crimes against humanity claim; and as a Legal Advisor and Fellow with the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative, where she focused on confronting gender-based violence and promoting women’s empowerment around the globe.She started her legal career as an associate at the A&O Shearman law firm, where her practice included international dispute resolution, public international law, and human rights. While there, she served as one of the lead counsel in a successful lawsuit against the Syrian government for its extrajudicial killing of war correspondent Marie Colvin, and advised clients on a variety of legal and policy matters, including interstate territorial disputes and UN Security Council reform. Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

Shibani Shah is a lawyer and international development professional with more than a decade of experience advancing rule of law and anti-corruption reform in conflict-affected and transitional areas. She has led multi-million-dollar USAID and State Department funded initiatives across Kosovo, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Vietnam, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, serving in senior roles with the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative and USAID. Her work has ranged from shaping national legal aid frameworks and drafting legislation to improve access to justice, to advising on transparency in post-war reconstruction in Ukraine. She is also one of the many thousands who were affected by the Trump administration's destruction of USAID. Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

Andrew Solomon is a seasoned justice innovator and rule of law influencer with a passion for disrupting bureaucracy and dismantling barriers to change. For three decades, he has led in designing cutting-edge programs, building partnerships, and facilitating locally-led initiatives to close justice gaps, strengthen trust in justice institutions, and empower people and communities as an international donor, development practitioner, and lawyer.His specializations in people-centered and open justice and court excellence have been shaped by his employment with such organizations as the American Bar Association, the American Society of International Law, the Brookings Institution, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.Before founding the Rule of Law IDEAS Co-Lab, he served for over a decade as a Senior Rule of Law Advisor at the now dismantled United States Agency for International Development (USAID), where he led or contributed to the design of more than two dozen rule of law programs — from Serbia and Kosovo to Georgia to Somalia and Ethiopia, to El Salvador, to Uzbekistan and the People’s Democratic Republic of Laos-totaling roughly $500 million in foreign assistance awards. While at USAID, Andrew also led the development of the agency’s first-ever Rule of Law Policy and numerous technical tools and resources.He currently serves on the boards of the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative and International Association for Court Administration (IACA). He is also a past board member of the Justice Action Coalition, a multi-stakeholder and donor platform to catalyze people-centered justice reforms around the world, representing the United States government. Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

Ginna Anderson has more than a decade of experience as an international human rights lawyer defending fundamental freedoms and fair trial rights, with specific expertise in health and human rights, human rights defender protection, and media freedom. She currently serves as the Associate Director of the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights, where she leads a diverse team of human rights advocates to provide pro bono legal support, monitor trials, and advocate for the rights of individuals and communities facing persecution. Since joining the Center in 2012, she has supported journalists and human rights defenders facing criminalization, smear campaigns, strategic lawsuits against public participation (“SLAPPs”), and other forms of reprisals in every region of the world.Lana Baydas is the Program Director at the ABA Center for Human Rights and leads the Center’s Proxy Warfare Project. Prior to joining the Center, she was a senior fellow with the Human Rights Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where she led research and policy efforts related to closing civic space. She served at headquarters and in field operations with the United Nations, Crisis Action, and the International Committee of the Red Cross. She holds a Ph.D. and LL.M. in public international law from the University of Glasgow in Scotland and a B.A. in political science from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon.They spoke to Rule of Law Defenders in their personal capacities. Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

Marc Hawk is a dedicated public servant, advocate, and community leader. A J.D. candidate at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law (Class of 2027), he was recently elected the Law Student At-Large on the American Bar Association Board of Governors. His career to date has been rooted in grassroots organizing, constituent services, and policy advocacy. He previously served as Lead Campaign Director for The Outreach Team, where he oversaw field programs focused on civic engagement. He also worked as a Constituent Liaison in the U.S. House of Representatives, providing direct support to individuals navigating federal systems, and as a Training Associate at the Democratic National Committee, helping equip organizers with the tools to lead effectively across the country. With a passion for public interest law, equity, and access to justice, he brings both personal conviction and professional experience to every role. His work is guided by the belief that advocacy must be people-centered, and he continues to champion causes that uplift underserved communities, support systemic reform, and empower the next generation of changemakers. Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

Barrett Holmes Pitner is a philosopher, author, educator, journalist, and founder of The Sustainable Culture Lab. In 2021, he published the celebrated book, The Crime Without a Name: Ethnocide and the Erasure of Culture in America, which NPR named one of the top books of the year. In it, he describes how ethnocide — the destruction of a people’s culture while keeping the people — has shaped American life since the transatlantic slave trade. The destruction of African culture while keeping African people was a foundational component of the slave trade and of chattel slavery in the Americas. Through his work, research, and advocacy, Pitner has devoted himself to combating ethnocide by developing and cultivating a sustainable and nurturing culture for society. A current focus is to center the Reconstruction era of US history to better understand American society today and supply a framework for reconstructing it along lines more consistent with the Reconstruction amendments to the US Constitution. Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

Bennett Freeman has worked for more than four decades at the intersection of governments, international institutions, multinational corporations, responsible investors, and NGOs to promote human rights and sustainable development around the world. An innovative leader in the fields of business and human rights, natural resource governance, and responsible investment, he has played key roles in developing several multi-stakeholder initiatives and global standards that have strengthened corporate responsibility in industries from extractives to information and communications technology.He is the lead author of Shared Space Under Pressure: Business Support for Civic Freedoms and Human Rights Defenders, published by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre and International Service for Human Rights in September 2018.A leading member of numerous advisory boards of public interest organizations, he also has served in senior management positions in the private sector, where he was responsible for environmental, social and governance research; developing investment themes for new funds; and directing shareholder advocacy and public policy initiatives, stakeholder engagement, and communications strategies related to human rights, labor practices, and sustainable development. In the Clinton Administration, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor; as Senior Advisor to Under Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs; and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and chief speechwriter to the Secretary of State.He currently consults for major corporations, foundations, and NGOs through Bennett Freeman Associates LLC, an Associate Fellow in the Global Economy and Finance program at Chatham House , and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

Dr. Beth Van Schaack served as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice in the U.S. State Department office, where she once served as Deputy Ambassador. GCJ advised the Secretary of State and the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights on issues related to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, and the deployment of the whole range of transitional justice mechanisms in states emerging from violence or repression. Prior to returning to public service, she was the Leah Kaplan Visiting Professor in Human Rights at Stanford Law School, where she taught international criminal law, human rights, human trafficking, and a policy lab on Legal & Policy Tools for Preventing Atrocities. In addition, she directed Stanford’s International Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic.In addition to her current work as a Distinguished Fellow with Stanford’s Center for Human Rights & International Justice, she serves as a Commissioner with the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), a Senior Peace Fellow with the Public International Law & Policy Group, a Distinguished Fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Litigation Project, and a Distinguished Fellow with the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace & Security. With seven other senior U.S. government human rights mandate holders, she is a co-founder of The Alliance for Diplomacy & Justice, which works to center human rights within U.S. foreign policy.Earlier in her career, she was a practicing lawyer at Morrison & Foerster, LLP; the Center for Justice & Accountability, a human rights law firm; and the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

Jasmine D. Cameron is an international human rights lawyer and visiting scholar at American University’s Washington College of Law. She most recently served as Senior Legal Advisor for Europe and Eurasia with the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights, Justice Defenders Program. Previously, she worked overseas for many years, including as a staff attorney and legal advisor for the U.S. Department of Justice at the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where she helped implement complex anti-corruption and rule-of-law initiatives, and as a political officer for the U.S. Department of State at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, where she focused on the internal politics and elections portfolio. Her work centers on the rule of law, legal development in transitional democracies, and international human rights.Fernanda G. Nicola is Professor of Law at the Washington College of Law, American University and Director of the Program on International Organizations Law and Development. Her research and teaching interests are in European Union Law, Constitutional Law, Comparative Law and Local Government Law. She is the author of numerous articles on transnational legal theory, European law and integration. In 2024 she co-authored, with Transparency International, the report, Protecting National Sovereignty: What is the Real Threat?, comparing the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act with Hungary’s National Protection of Sovereignty Law, which she also wrote about in Verfassung Blog. She is a member of the American Society of Comparative Law and served as the Chair of the EU Law and Comparative Law Sections of the Association of American Law Schools. Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

Melissa Hooper is an accomplished lawyer and policy expert with more than 20 years’ experience in accountability law, high-impact litigation, and global human rights advocacy. Recognized for her leadership in framing and initiating actions to defend democratic principles and the rule of law, she has successfully litigated complex domestic and international cases, worked alongside Congress and the California state legislature to author and pass significant legislation, and managed coalitions and initiatives across government, academia, and civil society. She has testified repeatedly before Congress on issues of accountability for rights violations and corruption, democratic resilience, and national security; has led international teams to secure justice in significant human rights cases; and has contributed to policy development at the highest levels. She also has worked alongside lawyers and watchdogs in numerous countries to develop legal and policy responses to anti-democratic government action, and initiated the first program at USAID on democratic backsliding. Her work imagines ways to build resilience and rule of law through developing new networks, seeding strategic initiatives, and designing novel legal actions. In sum, her adventures in human rights and rule of law work have included releasing an innocent prisoner from death row, advising Pussy Riot, getting kicked out of two countries and yelled at by several autocrats. Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

Paul Smith is a Visiting Professor from Practice at the Georgetown University Law Center and formerly Senior Vice President at the Campaign Legal Center, of which he remains a board member and advisor. Until 2017 he was in private practice at the law firm of Jenner & Block LLP, where he had an active appellate practice for several decades, including 21 Supreme Court oral arguments in a wide range of cases but emphasizing civil rights and civil liberties issues. Among his important victories have been Lawrence v. Texas, the landmark gay rights case, and Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, establishing the First Amendment rights of those who produce and sell video games. He also argued a long list of voting rights cases in the Supreme Court.He is widely recognized as one of the country’s leading lawyers in appellate litigation, media and entertainment law, and First Amendment litigation. Among his many accolades are the American Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Award for his work promoting civil rights and civil liberties, and similar awards from the American Constitution Society, the DC Bar, the Legal Aid Society of DC, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Lambda Legal, and the Human Rights Campaign. Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

Elisa Massimino is Visiting Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Human Rights Institute at Georgetown University Law Center. She also serves as a non-resident senior fellow in national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress. She joined the Georgetown faculty in 2019 as the Robert F. Drinan, S.J., Chair in Human Rights. Before coming to Georgetown, she was a senior fellow with the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a practitioner-in-residence at Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. Previously, she spent 27 years — the last decade as president and CEO — at Human Rights First, one of the nation’s leading human rights advocacy organizations.She has a distinguished record of human rights advocacy in Washington, having testified before Congress dozens of times; written frequently for mainstream publications and specialized journals; appeared regularly in major media outlets; and spoken to audiences around the country. During her leadership at Human Rights First, the influential Washington publication The Hill consistently named her one of the most effective public advocates in the country; and Washingtonian magazine has repeatedly named her one of D.C.’s most influential people in foreign policy. Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

Hadar Harris is an award-winning international human rights attorney who has worked for more than two decades on a broad range of human rights issues in more than 25 countries. Prior to joining PEN America, she was the executive director of the Student Press Law Center, the nation’s only legal assistance organization devoted exclusively to supporting student news media in their struggle to cover important issues free from censorship. She also served as the executive director of the Northern California Innocence Project, which works to exonerate the innocent and to reform the criminal justice system, and for 13 years, she was the executive director of the Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law at American University Washington College of Law. She started her career as executive director of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus under the leadership of the late Congressman Tom Lantos. Thanks for listening! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and episodes. Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

David Scheffer is a genuine legend of international criminal justice and the defense of a just rule of law. A senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, during the Clinton Administration he was the first-ever US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues and led the US delegation to the UN talks that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). He also has negotiated the creation of four other war crimes tribunals; chaired the Atrocities-Prevention Inter-Agency Working Group; was senior advisor and counselor to the late US Ambassador to the UN, Madeleine Albright; and served on the Deputies Committee of the National Security Council. His recent publications include the award-winning "All the Missing Souls: A Personal History of the War Crimes Tribunals”; “The Sit Room: In the Theater of War and Peace”; and (with Mark Ellis) “The UN Charter: Five Pillars for Humankind.”Thanks for listening! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and episodes. Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

With the shuttering of USAID and massive layoffs at the State Department, generations of institutional memory and expertise are being lost to the American people and to the people they have helped around the world. But not only that – the next generation of affected leaders committed to building and sustaining human rights and the rule of law must reconsider their futures as well.In this two-part episode of Rule of Law Defenders, we talk with four professionals, ranging from early to mid-career, who do this work about how they see the future and how to shape it for the better.Andres is a program assistant for Latin America and the Caribbean.Carole is a senior program officer for Latin America and the Caribbean.Ravy is a program manager for Africa.Jessie serves as program director for Asia/Pacific.Thanks for listening. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and episodes! Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

With the shuttering of USAID and massive layoffs at the State Department, generations of institutional memory and expertise are being lost to the American people and to the people they have helped around the world.  But not only that – the next generation of affected leaders committed to building and sustaining human rights and the rule of law must reconsider their futures as well.  In this two-part episode of Rule of Law Defenders, we talk with four professionals, ranging from early to mid-career, who do this work about how they see the future and how to shape it for the better. Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe

Scott Carlson, Associate Executive Director for Global Programs at the American Bar Association (speaking in his personal capacity), joins host Michael Pates to share highlights from his career in advancing a just rule of law and to examine today’s challenges, international and domestic — and what you, too, can do about them. (Recorded July 2, 2025. Run time: 20:48)Thanks for listening! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and podcasts. Get full access to cylindr at cylindrmag.substack.com/subscribe