November 21, 2023 — The Center for Constitutional Rights and our extended family are reeling from the loss of the legendary Bill Goodman, our former legal director, who died suddenly on Friday. Since then, those of us who loved him and learned from him have been sharing stories, articles, and videos about this utterly fearless and irreverent warrior for justice, whose social conscience developed at a young age and grew only more expansive as he grew older. He was known to begin meetings by reading excerpts of literature that moved him or newspaper articles that outraged him, challenging us to be bolder and more creative in our advocacy. His hatred of oppression was pure; he was all heart. 

With his two stints as our legal director, 1998-2003 and 2005-2007, Bill left a lasting mark on our organization, the many lawyers he mentored—and the country. Under his leadership, the Center for Constitutional Rights boldly challenged fascism in all its forms. He headed, among other transformative cases, Daniels v. the City of New York, part of our successful, landmark challenge of the NYPD’s racist stop-and-frisk policy. Bill lived ahead of the curve, including by championing our work for Palestinian liberation. After 9/11, Bill immediately grasped the impending threat to our freedoms, pushing us to play an early and lead role in the battle against the Bush administration’s human rights abuses. At a time when many legal organizations hesitated, Bill passionately led the Center, and the legal bar, toward fundamental principles. He visited people in detention rounded up after 9/11 for being Muslim and out of status, then launched the case Turkmen v. Ashcroft that eventually made its way to the Supreme Court. During Bill’s tenure, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed the first Guantánamo habeas litigation, leading to multiple major Supreme Court victories. Here he is in a New York Times article on November 30, 2001, even before the prison at Guantánamo had opened: 

Bill Goodman, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, said that his group, which grew out of legal efforts to defend civil rights protesters in the 1960's is planning to challenge the executive order signed by President Bush on Nov. 13 allowing special military tribunals to try foreigners charged with terrorism….

''My job is to defend the Constitution from its enemies,'' Mr. Goodman said. ''Its main enemies right now are the Justice Department and the White House.” 

Bill left the Center to return to Detroit, his hometown, where he battled police violence and other forms of oppression until his death at 83. We’re deeply saddened by Bill’s loss. We take a measure of solace in knowing how best to honor his legacy: by continuing to fight, with love and anger, for a more just world.