Michael Ratner is an attorney, President Emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights, a non-profit human rights litigation organization based in New York City and president of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights based in Berlin. Ratner is known for his human rights activism. Ratner and CCR are currently the attorneys in the United States for publishers Julian Assange and Wikileaks. He was co-counsel in representing the Guantanamo Bay detainees in the United States Supreme Court, where, in June 2004, the court decided his clients have the right to test the legality of their detentions in court. Ratner is also a past president of the National Lawyers Guild and the author of numerous books and articles, including the books The Trial of Donald Rumsfeld: A Prosecution by Book, Against War with Iraq and Guantanamo: What the World Should Know, as well as a textbook on international human rights. Ratner is also the co-host of the radio program, Law and Disorder. He and three other attorneys host the Pacifica Radio show that reports legal developments related to civil liberties, civil rights and human rights. 

January 1st, 1943 in Cleveland  /  Died:   May 11th, 2016 - cancer