HPJC's Annual Awards Banquet, honoring Center for Constitutional Rights

Event Description:

This is the sixth year of this premiere celebration of Houston's vibrant progressive community. Please RSVP now!
This year, the National Peacemaker Award will be given to the Center for Constitutional Rights http://ccrjustice.org which was founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South. Over the last four decades, CCR has lent its expertise and support to virtually every popular movement for social justice. Its cases involving Guantánamo, Blackwater, and extraordinary rendition (for torture) are making legal history.

Representing CCR at the dinner, and delivering the keynote address, will be will be staff attorney Pardiss Kebriaei, who provides direct representation to several of CCR's clients at Guantánamo and helps coordinate CCR's network of hundreds of pro bono counsel representing other prisoners. She also focuses on using international human rights mechanisms to bring international pressure to bear on the U.S. government and hold other governments accountable for their role in the violations at Guantánamo. (Note: CCR was originally going to be represented by another staff attorney, Katie Gallagher, so this is a change in the program.)

See below for more details on CCR.

Houston-based honorees will be:
* the Rothko Chapel
* UH Students Against Sweatshops
* Alice Valdez, Hispanic community activist and director of MECA

Tickets can be purchased on line at http://www.hpjc.org/awardsdinner_6.html after October 15.

6:15 p.m. reception, 7 p.m. dinner at Hilton Hotel on the UH campus.
Take entrance 1 into campus off Calhoun and park in the high rise garage across from the hotel (less expensive) or the garage under the hotel (more expensive).

For more information, contact Herb, 713-861-2494, escramble('herbertrothschild','hotmail.com'); or Bill Crosier, 713-641-4941.

4800 Calhoun Street
Take Entrance 1 from Calhoun St.

More on CCR:

This is the major annual fund raiser for the Houston Peace and Justice Center. Subsidized tickets are available for those not able to afford the regular ticket price, and we encourage those who can afford more to donate extra to help cover those low cost seats. HPJC wants everyone who is interested to be able to attend.

We're working with the UH Hilton to ensure that the vegan dinner option is really vegan (it wasn't last year). You can specify vegan or regular when you make your reservation.

The 2008 national honoree is the Center for Constitutional Rights and a representative of CCR will be there to receive the award and give the keynote address.

Three Houston-area organizations and individuals will also be honored with local peacemaker awards (see below).

Some of you may remember that for PAA's first impeachment forum http://www.paa-tx.org/node/2324 held in September 2006 (with Ann Wright), we showed a half-hour video produced by CCR entitled "How to Impeach a President", including legal grounds for impeachment.
The CCR also brought the first Guantánamo case more than five years ago http://ccrjustice.org/beyond-guantanamo
In addition to impeachment, and illegal detentions and Guantanamo, the CCR's issues include:
* Surveillance and Attacks on Dissent
* Criminal Justice and Mass Incarceration
* Corporate Human Rights Abuse
* Government Abuse of Power
* Racial, Gender and Economic Justice
* International Law and Accountability

Event Sponsor:
Houston Peace & Justice Center

Event Contact Name:
Herb Rothschild

Event Phone Contact Information:
713-861-2494

Event Website:
hpjc.org/awardsdinner_6.html

Event Fee:
$75 (some subsidized seats are available; just ask for them)