Columbia Center for Oral History Portal > Oral history interview with Ricardo M. Urbina, 2013.Biographical NoteJudge, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Retired.
Scope and ContentsBorn: January 31, 1946, New York, NY. Education: B.A., Georgetown University; J.D., Georgetown University Law Center. Career: staff attorney, D.C. Public Defenders Service; private practice; Professor and Director, Criminal Justice Program, Howard University School of Law; Associate Judge, Superior Court of D.C.; Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Reminiscences: childhood in New York and family background; primary education and athletics; early career as lawyer in D.C.; application to judgeship; personal experience of September 11, 2001 attacks; initial knowledge of Guantánamo Bay detention center; reaction to photographs of Abu Ghraib detainees.
Discussions: Supreme Court nomination proceedings of Robert Bork; procedural differences between federal and district courts; impact of September 11 attacks on responsibilities of a federal judge; typical habeas corpus petitions pre-War on Terror; judicial obligations in Guantánamo habeas corpus petitions; Supreme Court habeas corpus rulings; minority representation in judicial court systems; cause for 2012 retirement; personal study of aikido; lack of court dealings with enhanced interrogation techniques; pro bono lawyers representing Guantánamo Bay detainees; differences between Obama and Bush administration proceedings in relation to Guantánamo Bay; symbolical importance of closing Guantánamo Bay Detention Center; impact of habeas corpus trials on future court proceedings. Cases discussed: U.S. v. Espy (1998); Rasul v. Bush, (2004); Boumediene v. Bush, (2008); Kiyemba v. Obama, (2010); Kiyemba II; Al-Bihani v. Obama, (2010); Al-Adahi v. Obama, (2010); Latif v. Obama, (2012).
Subjects- Al-Adahi, Mohammed.
- Al-Bihani, Ghaleb Nassar.
- Bork, Robert H.
- Boumediene, Lakhdar.
- Criminal justice, Administration of--United States.
- Detention of persons--Government policy--United States.
- Espy, Mike, 1953-
- Farber, Myron, interviewer.--http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/ivr
- Guantánamo Bay oral history project.
- Habeas corpus--United States.
- Interviews.
- Judges--United States--Interviews.
- Kiyemba, Jamal.
- Latif, Adnan Farhan Abdul.
- Oral histories (literary works)
- Prisoners of war--Cuba--Guantánamo Bay Naval Base.
- Rasul, Shafiq, 1977-
- Rule of law--United States.
- Torture--Government policy--United States.
- Unlawful combatants--Legal status, laws, etc.--United States.
- Urbina, Ricardo Manuel, 1946---Interviews.
- War on Terrorism, 2001-2009.
Access ConditionsCopyright by The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, 2013.
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