Class of 2008-09 Deputy Director Center for National Security and the Law   Georgetown University Law Center 600 New Jersey Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20001 Phone: (202) 662-9000

Profile:

Nadia received her B.A. from Johns Hopkins University, majoring in Biology and English, and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. At Georgetown, she was a research assistant for Professor Neal Katyal while he led the Hamdan v. Rumsfeld case to victory in the United States Supreme Court. In addition, she participated in the Domestic Violence Clinic, representing victims of domestic violence seeking civil protection orders in DC Superior Court. Nadia was an Articles Editor of the Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law, and published an article on same sex marriage. She was the Treasurer of both the Law Democrats and Students Against the Death Penalty, and a member of the American Constitution Society.   Following law school, Nadia clerked for the Honorable Richard Owen in the Southern District of New York. She then practiced at a firm in New York, specializing in white collar criminal defense, as well as challenging the detention of four Uighur detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  

As part of her Fellowship with the Center for National Security and the Law at Georgetown Law, Nadia attended numerous seminars and events, such as conference on “The Gender Dimensions of Terrorism:  How Terrorism Impacts the Lives of Women,” at Rutgers Law School on March 6, 2009.  The event was the Women’s Rights Law Reporter’s 40th Anniversary Symposium, featuring a keynote presentation from Susan Herman, President of the ACLU, and Karima Bennoune, Rutgers Law School professor and visiting professor at the University of Michigan Law School. During the conference, Nadia also met Farhana Ali, who writes on women’s activism in mass sociopolitical movements and terrorist networks, such as women in Al Qaeda and the female suicide bomber trend in Iraq and other conflicts.  Nadia has explored the possibility of researching other connections between security and women’s issues, such as the story in 2007 of how Iran charged women’s rights activists with national security violations, repealing the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell requirement in the U.S. military, and the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, which addresses the impact of war on women, and women's contributions to conflict resolution and sustainable peace.  At the beginning of her fellowship, Nadia and her colleagues launched a blog covering national security law news and issues (www.securitylawblog.com).  In April 2009, the blog had about 4600 hits, plus 190 or so subscribers each day.  Nadia also analyzed the 4th Circuit’s en banc decision in the Al-Marri case and wrote a paper entitled “Why the Administration was Correct to Indict Al-Marri” that was released shortly after the case was argued in February 2009.  Additionally, Nadia was involved in a research project pertaining to Britain’s use of anti-terrorism laws in Iceland and examining other instances where a government’s expansion of list of “terrorist organizations” has had devastating effects on the economy.  She also worked with the University of Sheffield on a project entitled “The Rule of Law and Terrorism.”  Additionally, Nadia has been substantially involved in the Uighurs detention case.  In January, the director of the Center, Neal Katyal, was appointed by President Obama to be the Deputy Solicitor General, and Nadia helped facilitate the Center’s work during his transition.  She currently serves as the Deputer Director of the Center.