Ricardo M. Urbina, a trailblazing Latino lawyer who scored victories for civil liberties as an empathetic federal judge and for civil rights as a record-breaking track star — helping to fuel an epochal protest at the 1968 Olympics — died on Monday in Washington.
His death, in an assisted living facility, was caused by complications of Parkinson’s disease, his son, Ian Urbina, said.
Judge Urbina, the first Latino appointed to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and the United States District Court in Washington, figured most prominently in cases that originated with the federal government’s war against terrorism and that put him at odds with the administration of President George W. Bush.
In 2007, he extended habeas corpus rights to Shawqi Ahmad Omar, a citizen of Jordan and the United States who was about to be transferred to Iraqi custody to be tried as a terrorist.
Persons:
Ricardo M, —, Ian Urbina, Judge Urbina, George W, Bush, Shawqi Ahmad Omar
Organizations:
Superior, District of Columbia, United States, Court, United
Locations:
Washington, Jordan, United States