FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PROFESSOR CAROLYN PATTY BLUM APPOINTED INTERIM DIRECTOR OF THE CARDOZO LAW INSTITUTE IN HOLOCAUST AND HUMAN RIGHTS (CLIHHR) AND THE HUMAN RIGHTS AND ATROCITY PREVENTION CLINIC
June 12, 2015 – NEW YORK, NY – Professor Carolyn Patty Blum, an experienced human rights clinician and Visiting Clinical Professor of Law at the Cardozo Law Human Rights & Atrocity Prevention Clinic, has been appointed Interim Director of the Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights (CLIHHR).
“In the wake of the tragic loss of our friend and colleague, Professor Sheri P. Rosenberg, we welcome Professor Blum’s dedication and expertise to carry forward the work of the institute and clinic,” said Dean Melanie Leslie. “We are confident that she will honor Professor Rosenberg’s work and help to build the already excellent human rights programs at Cardozo Law.”
Professor Blum is a Clinical Professor of Law Emerita at Berkeley Law, University of California, where she founded and directed their International Human Rights Law Clinic. She also is a Senior Research Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Human Rights Center and a Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College, University of Oxford, where she is a member of the faculty of the Masters Program in International Human Rights Law.
As the long-time Senior Legal Adviser to the human rights organization, the Center for Justice and Accountability, Professor Blum has worked on cases concerning accountability for crimes committed by the Chilean and Salvadoran militaries in the 1980s. She has successfully litigated three civil cases concerning El Salvador in US courts and currently is on the legal team of the Spanish National Court criminal case concerning the 1989 massacre of 6 Jesuit priests in El Salvador.
Professor Blum’s areas of expertise and scholarship include refugee law, transitional justice and accountability, human rights and national security, and human rights and film. In addition to her academic achievements, she has litigated dozens of asylum and human rights cases.
The Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights was founded by funds from a Holocaust claims case and has become a unique law school program designed to strengthen laws, norms and institutions to prevent mass atrocities and strengthen human rights protections.
“I feel very honored to have been asked to help preserve Sheri’s legacy and continue her important work in human rights and the prevention of mass atrocities,” remarked Professor Blum. “Through our scholarship, teaching and advocacy at the institute and clinic, we hope to build upon Sheri’s many successes while preparing the next generation of human rights practitioners to advance the field, further the rights of marginalized and vulnerable populations, and be part of the world-wide movement for criminal accountability for human rights abuses.”