Georgetown Law Graduate to Receive Bazelon Fellowship
June 6, 2012 —
Todd Rubin
Georgetown University Law Center is pleased to announce that it will send a recent graduate to the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law for a two-year public interest fellowship in the field of disability law.
"We are delighted to send an outstanding Law Center graduate to the Bazelon Center to work on important disability law issues," said Georgetown Law Dean William M. Treanor. "I am particularly grateful to our alumnus, Sara Crown Star, and her husband, James A. Star, for supporting the Bazelon Fellowship and for generously helping to provide one of our graduates with this wonderful opportunity. When Sara first raised the idea of creating this fellowship, I was impressed by the idea of helping a talented graduate make a difference in the field of disability law. It is great that idea has now become a reality."
"David and Mickey would be thrilled that such a smart, hardworking Georgetown graduate is willing to dedicate a portion of his career to pursuing equal rights for those with mental health issues," said Sara Crown Star, a 1985 graduate of Georgetown Law. "Todd Rubin's resume is impeccable. I hope this experience lights a passion that leads him to truly make a difference in other people's lives. I know David and Mickey would be very proud to see Todd continue their fight for fair treatment for those with disabilities."
The first recipient of the David and Mickey Bazelon Fellowship is Todd Rubin, who received his J.D. from Georgetown Law in February 2012. Rubin graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Pennsylvania in 2008 with a B.A. in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) and Hispanic studies. He was a co-recipient of the Goldstone Prize for Best Senior Honors Thesis in PPE and served as the editor-in-chief of the journal Sound Politicks. He has interned with the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Education, White House Domestic Policy Council, Judge Joanna Seybert of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and The Brookings Institution.
Rubin, who will begin his fellowship in September 2012, will work with the Bazelon Center’s staff on groundbreaking litigation and public systems reforms. Current litigation priorities include enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act’s integration mandate, preventing the incarceration of individuals with mental illnesses, securing a quality education for children with emotional disturbance and enforcing entitlements under the Medicaid Act.
In addition to working in the trial courts, Rubin will also work on Supreme Court and other appellate cases, lobby federal agencies and support state-based advocacy organizations.
Established in 1972, the Bazelon Center is a national advocacy organization that seeks to protect and advance the rights of adults and children who have mental disabilities. David L. Bazelon served as chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1962 to 1978. Two of his landmark opinions helped pioneer the field of mental health law, establishing for the first time the right of a mental patient to appropriate treatment.
His wife, Miriam (Mickey) Kellner Bazelon Knox, was a vigorous advocate for children with mental disorders. She joined the federal government during the Johnson administration and was instrumental in the creation of Head Start.
