Detroit, November 22 (RHC)-- In the U.S. city of Detroit, renowned civil rights attorney and human rights defender Bill Goodman has died.  He was 83. 

Some of Goodman’s most influential work came during his time as legal director of the New York City-based Center for Constitutional Rights.  Under his leadership, the center filed its first habeas litigation on behalf of Guantánamo prisoners, leading to multiple Supreme Court victories. 

Bill Goodman took on the NYPD’s racist stop-and-frisk policy and led a class-action lawsuit of hundreds of Muslim men who were rounded up and detained after 9/11.  Goodman was also celebrated for championing Palestinian rights. 

After leaving New York, Goodman returned to his hometown of Detroit, where he continued to fight police violence and other social justice issues until his death.