Last Wednesday, The Center for American and International Law (CAIL) proudly presented “Bold Voices: One Woman + the Rule of Law” with award-winning international human rights lawyer Hauwa Ibrahim at the George W. Bush Presidential Center's Café 43. Over 50 guests from DFW's business, legal, and nonprofit communities attended.
“The rule of law means different things to different people. The simplest, strongest explanation is one that was given to us by CAIL’s founder and former dean of SMU law school, Robert Storey, who defined the rule of law simply as the opposite of the rule of force,” opened Thomas “T.L.” Cubbage, CAIL’s president. “It was the principle that controversies, disputes, conflicts should be resolved with reason and impartial justice rather than with violence or raw power.”
The evening’s moderator, the former CAIL president Mark Smith, followed Cubbage and began the conversation with Ibrahim. Throughout their conversation, Ibrahim shared anecdotes from her experiences as a lawyer working on cases with women and children being tried under Sharia law. She spoke about her role in helping secure intelligence leading to the release of Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram. Ibrahim described how these experiences led her to research the many ways the "soft power of mothers" can help redirect youth from entering the world of fundamental extremism.
She closed the evening by emphasizing that her experiences started at one crucial point in her life: her participation in CAIL's 2000 Academy of American and International Law, where the simple act of being able to take a cup of coffee to the classroom helped her realize, for the first time, what freedom could look like.
The Bold Voices event is one of CAIL's educational events promoting the rule of law during its 75th-anniversary celebrations. Through the public's participation and support for events like these, CAIL works to fulfill its mission of advancing justice by promoting the rule of law.
"It was a night of enlightenment and inspiration for all who attended," shared Mimi Bason, CAIL’s vice president for advancement. "We heard the incredible story of a humble, courageous, and brilliant woman who is tireless in her passion for peace, justice, and human dignity.”
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About The Center for American and International Law - Founded in 1947, The Center for American and International Law is a nonprofit institution based in Plano, Texas, dedicated to improving the quality of justice by providing continuing education to lawyers and law enforcement officials in the United States and throughout the world. Since its founding, CAIL's educational institutes have established internationally recognized forums and educational programs addressing law enforcement administration, energy law, international and comparative law, transnational arbitration, law and technology, criminal justice, and other relevant topics. During its 75-year history, CAIL has served tens of thousands of lawyers and law enforcement officers from all 50 states and 130 countries.