Volume 9, Number 2 (2011) University of New Hampshire Law Review

The Inaugural Symposium Issue on Social Justice

On March 2, 2010 Rear Admiral John D. Hutson, the former Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Navy, announced his retirement as Dean and President of the University of the New Hampshire School of Law. During his ten-year tenure as our Dean and President, John Hutson made it his priority to advance social justice within the legal academy and the practice of law. He has been an outspoken advocate on controversial issues such as calling for the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and demanding the U.S. government to abandon its enemy combatant detention policies.

This symposium issue, devoted entirely to the complex issues facing U.S. policy makers and the courts in the aftermath of the decision to close Guantanamo Bay, is a collaborative effort between the University of New Hampshire Law Review and the law school's Social Justice Institute. Erin Corcoran, Professor of Law and Director of the Social Justice Institute, first approached the editors at the University of New Hampshire Law Review in May 2010 about publishing a symposium issue devoted to an emerging social justice topic. We decided that the inaugural issue on social justice should honor Dean Hutson with rigorous scholarship and reflection on the social justice issues closest to his heart—U.S. obligations to uphold the rule of law while protecting our national security. The entire staff at the University of New Hampshire Law Review is proud to dedicate this inaugural symposium issue on social justice to John Hutson. Thank you, Dean Hutson, for remaining steadfast in your commitment to advance human rights and promote justice.