Azadeh N. Shahshahani is an American human rights attorney based in Atlanta. She is legal and advocacy director for Project South. She previously served as president of the

National Lawyers Guild The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is a progressive public interest association of lawyers, law students, paralegals, jailhouse lawyers, law collective members, and other activist legal workers, in the United States. The group was founded in 193 ...

and director of the National Security/Immigrants' Rights Project for the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

(ACLU) of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Early life and education

Shahshahani was born in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

a few days after the 1979

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

. She received her J.D. from the

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a Public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of C ...

, where she served as article editor for the ''

Michigan Journal of International Law The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparative Law (M ...

''. Shahshahani also has a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in modern

Middle Eastern The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (European ...

and

North African North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

studies from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Career

Shahshahani has worked for a number of years in the U.S. South to protect the human rights of immigrants and Muslim, Middle Eastern, and South Asian communities. She is the author or editor of several human rights reports, including the report ''Imprisoned Justice: Inside Two Immigrant Detention Centers in Georgia''; the report ''Inside Atlanta's Immigration Cages'', which helped persuade the City of Atlanta to stop detaining immigrants for ICE at the city jail; as well as the 2020 Project South complaint that brought national and international attention to medical abuses against women's bodies at the Irwin County Detention Center. Shahshahani has also served as counsel in lawsuits on behalf of a deported U.S. citizen, a Muslim woman forced to remove her headcovering at a courthouse, detained immigrants subjected to forced labor at the corporate-run

Stewart Detention Center Stewart Detention Center is a private prison operated by Corrections Corporation of America under contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, primarily used for housing immigrant detainees. The facility stands in Lumpkin, Stewar ...

, immigrant women survivors of medical abuse at the

Irwin County Detention Center The Irwin County Detention Center is a private prison operated by Louisiana-based LaSalle Corrections located in Irwin County, Georgia. At least 43 women prisoners and a whistleblower nurse came forward alleging non-consensual surgeries and medic ...

, and many others who have suffered human rights violations. Shahshahani has served as a trial monitor in Turkey, an election monitor in Venezuela and Honduras, and as a member of the jury in people's tribunals on Mexico, the Philippines, and Brazil. She has also participated in international fact-finding delegations to post-revolutionary Tunisia and Egypt as well as a delegation focused on the situation of Palestinian political prisoners. Shahshahani serves on the advisory council of the American Association of Jurists and as a board member of

Defending Rights & Dissent Defending Rights & Dissent (DRAD) is a national not-for-profit advocacy organization in the United States, dedicated to defending civil liberties, exposing government repression, and protecting the right of political dissent. DRAD was formed as th ...

. She speaks frequently at law school and colleges campuses on topics ranging from movement lawyering to roots of forced migration, U.S. foreign policy, abolition of ICE prisons, and countering state surveillance and repression against Muslim communities, among others. Shahshahani has appeared on

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...

and

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

; has been interviewed by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

and

The World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

; and has been quoted by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'',

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', ''

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

'', and other outlets.

Writings

Shahshahani writes frequently for various national and international publications such as the ''

Nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...

'', the ''Guardian'',

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

, ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'', ''

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...

'', ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'', and ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' on a range of issues pertaining to immigrants' rights, discrimination and state surveillance targeting Muslim communities, and foreign policy.

Awards and honors

Shahshahani is the recipient of the Shanara M. Gilbert Human Rights Award from the Society of American Law Teachers, the National Lawyers Guild Ernie Goodman Award, the

Emory Law School Emory University School of Law is the law school of Emory University and is part of the University's main campus in Druid Hills, Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded in 1916 and was the first law school in Georgia to be granted membership in the Ame ...

Outstanding Leadership in the Public Interest Award, the

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

MLK Jr. Community Service Award, the

US Human Rights Network The US Human Rights Network (USHRN) is a national network composed of over 200 self-identified grassroots human rights organizations and over 700 individuals working to strengthen what they regard as the protection of human rights in the United ...

Human Rights Movement Builder Award, the

American Immigration Lawyers Association The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), founded on October 14, 1946, is a voluntary bar association of over 15,000 attorneys and law professors who practice and teach immigration law. AILA member attorneys represent U.S. families see ...

Advocacy Award, the ''

Fulton County Daily Report The ''Daily Report Online'', formerly referred to as the ''Fulton County Daily Report'', is a daily legal newspaper based in Atlanta, Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Established in 1890, it covers Georgia legal and ...

'' Distinguished Leader Award, and the

University of Georgia School of Law The University of Georgia School of Law (Georgia Law) is the law school of the University of Georgia, a Public university, public research university in Athens, Georgia. It was founded in 1859, making it among the oldest American university law sc ...

Equal Justice Foundation Public Interest Practitioner Award, among others. She has also been recognized as an

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

by the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University & the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, and as one of Atlanta's 500 Most Powerful Leaders by ''

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

'' magazine. In 2016, she was chosen by the ''Mundo Hispanico'' newspaper as a ''Personaje Destacado del Año'' (Outstanding Person of the Year) for defending the rights of immigrants in Georgia.''Mundo Hispanico'', issue #1316, October 6–12, 2016. In 2017, she was chosen by ''

Georgia Trend ''Georgia Trend'' (tagline: ''The Magazine of Georgia Business, Politics & Economic Development Since 1985'') is a monthly business magazine covering business and finance in Georgia. It was established in 1985 by Times Publishing Company, which pub ...

'' magazine as one of the 40 under 40 notable Georgians.

Bibliography

"Deploying International Law to Combat Forced Labor in Immigration Detention Centers"
''Georgetown Immigration Law Journal''. 2022 (co-authored with Kyleen Burke).
"Movement Lawyering: A Case Study in the U.S. South"
''Howard Human & Civil Rights Law Review''. 2020.
"Decolonizing Justice in Tunisia: From Transitional Justice to a People's Tribunal"
''

Monthly Review The ''Monthly Review'', established in 1949, is an independent socialist magazine published monthly in New York City. The publication is the longest continuously published socialist magazine in the United States. History Establishment Following ...

''. 2019 (co-authored with Corinna Mullin and Nada Trigui).
"From Pelican Bay to Palestine: The Legal Normalization of Force-Feeding Hunger-Strikers"
'' Michigan Journal of Race & Law''. 2019 (co-authored with Priya Arvind Patel).
"Sanctuary Policies: Local Resistance in the Face of State Anti-Sanctuary Legislation"
''

City University of New York Law Review The ''City University of New York Law Review'', commonly known as the ''CUNY Law Review'', a student-run journal at the CUNY School of Law which publishes a law journal of scholarship on critical public interest and social justice issues. The law ...

''. 2018 (co-authored with Amy Pont).
"Local Police Entanglement with Immigration Enforcement in Georgia"
''

Cardozo Law Review The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law is the law school of Yeshiva University. Located in New York City and founded in 1976, the school is named for Supreme Court Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo. Cardozo graduated its first class in 1979. An LL.M. ...

de•novo'', 2017.
"No Papers? You Can't Have Water: A Critique of Localities' Denial of Utilities to Undocumented Immigrants"
''

Emory International Law Review The ''Emory International Law Review'' (''EILR'') is a student-edited and produced law review published by Emory University School of Law. ''EILR'' is currently publishing its 35th volume. ''EILR'' articles explore topics across international and ...

'', 2017 (co-authored with Kathryn Madison).
"Indiscriminate Power: Racial Profiling and Surveillance Since 9/11"
''

University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change The ''University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change'' ''(JLASC)'' is an official student-run journal of the University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Care ...

'', 2015 (co-authored with Carlos Torres and Tye Tavaras). *Immigration and Racial Profiling. ''Cultural Issues in Criminal Defense''. 3rd & 4th editions, August 2010 and June 2015.
"Challenging the Practice of Solitary Confinement in Immigration Detention in Georgia and Beyond"
''City University of New York Law Review'', 2014 (co-authored with Natasha El-Sergany).
"Shattered Dreams: An Analysis of the Georgia Board of Regents' Admissions Ban from a Constitutional and International Human Rights Perspective"
''

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

Race and Poverty Law Journal'', 2013 (co-authored with Chaka Washington).
"The legacy of US intervention and the Tunisian revolution: promises and challenges one year on"
''

Interface Interface or interfacing may refer to: Academic journals * ''Interface'' (journal), by the Electrochemical Society * ''Interface, Journal of Applied Linguistics'', now merged with ''ITL International Journal of Applied Linguistics'' * '' Inte ...

''. 4 (1): 67-101, May 2012 (co-authored with Corinna Mullin). *"Reflections on the Occasion of the Tenth Anniversary of September 11". ''Race/Ethnicity: Multidisciplinary Global Contexts''. 4 (3) 2011. *"Reflections". ''Shifting Balance Sheets: Women's Stories of Naturalized Citizenship & Cultural Attachment''. July 1, 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shahshahani, Azadeh N. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American lawyers American women lawyers Human rights lawyers American civil rights lawyers University of Michigan Law School alumni 21st-century American women