Michael Ratner (1943-2016)
Michael Ratner at ALBA’s 2013 event. Photo Nicholas Chan
The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA, www.alba-valb.org) mourns the loss of Michael Ratner, a longtime defender of civil liberties in the United States and abroad. Ratner’s visionary leadership at the Center for Constitutional Rights, his work on behalf of prisoners at Guantánamo, his defense of whistleblowers and his lifelong fight for justice–recognized in 2007 with the Puffin/Nation prize for Creative Citizenship–leave a lasting and inspiring legacy. Ratner was a generous supporter of ALBA’s educational work. “The people who really gave me my political education,” he said at the ALBA’s annual event in 2011, “were the National Lawyers Guild and the Vets of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.” We extend our deepest condolences to his wife, Karen Ranucci, his family, his friends, and his colleagues at the CCR.
