Melissa Hoffer
Encyclopedia
Melissa Hoffer is a lawyer
specializing in environmental law
.
She is currently the New Hampshire Advocacy Center Director for the Conservation Law Foundation
.
Hoffer graduated from Northeastern University's School of Law in 1998.
She was previously with the law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
from 1999 to 2007, and promoted to a junior partner
there in 2003. She traveled with a team to Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
to volunteer their services to the Algerian Six
.
On January 7, 2007, the Boston Globe published an article by Hoffer about her Guantanamo clients.
Hoffer represents the "Algerian Six
".
For a profile for Northeastern's Alumni magazine Hoffer compared her clients cases with the landmark civil rights cases of Brown v. Board of Education
, key to African-Americans getting equal access to education opportunities and Korematsu v. United States
, a key case fought for the rights of Americans of Japanese descent, interned during World War 2. Hoffer said:
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
specializing in environmental law
Environmental law
Environmental law is a complex and interlocking body of treaties, conventions, statutes, regulations, and common law that operates to regulate the interaction of humanity and the natural environment, toward the purpose of reducing the impacts of human activity...
.
She is currently the New Hampshire Advocacy Center Director for the Conservation Law Foundation
Conservation Law Foundation
Conservation Law Foundation is an environmental advocacy organization based in New England. Since 1966, CLF's mission has been to advocate on behalf of the region's environment and its communities. CLF's advocacy work takes place in four program areas: Clean Energy & Climate Change, Clean Water &...
.
Hoffer graduated from Northeastern University's School of Law in 1998.
She was previously with the law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, which also goes by the shorter market name WilmerHale, is an American law firm with twelve offices across the USA, Europe and Asia. It was created in 2004 through the merger of the Boston-based firm Hale and Dorr and the Washington-based firm Wilmer Cutler...
from 1999 to 2007, and promoted to a junior partner
Partnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests.Since humans are social beings, partnerships between individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments, and varied combinations thereof, have always been and remain commonplace...
there in 2003. She traveled with a team to Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a detainment and interrogation facility of the United States located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. The facility was established in 2002 by the Bush Administration to hold detainees from the war in Afghanistan and later Iraq...
to volunteer their services to the Algerian Six
Algerian Six
The Algerian Six are six Muslim men who had been imprisoned without charges at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since January 2002; five of them were ordered released after a long disputed habeas hearing before Judge Leon in the Federal District Court in Washington, D.C.; three...
.
On January 7, 2007, the Boston Globe published an article by Hoffer about her Guantanamo clients.
Hoffer represents the "Algerian Six
Algerian Six
The Algerian Six are six Muslim men who had been imprisoned without charges at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since January 2002; five of them were ordered released after a long disputed habeas hearing before Judge Leon in the Federal District Court in Washington, D.C.; three...
".
For a profile for Northeastern's Alumni magazine Hoffer compared her clients cases with the landmark civil rights cases of Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
, key to African-Americans getting equal access to education opportunities and Korematsu v. United States
Korematsu v. United States
Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 , was a landmark United States Supreme Court case concerning the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, which ordered Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II....
, a key case fought for the rights of Americans of Japanese descent, interned during World War 2. Hoffer said: