Nancy Hollander (born 1944) is an American criminal defense lawyer best known for representing two Guantanamo Bay detainees, as well as

Chelsea Manning Chelsea Elizabeth Manning (born Bradley Edward Manning, December 17, 1987) is an American activist and whistleblower. She is a former United States Army soldier who was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage ...

. She was portrayed by actress

Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. Foster started her career as a child actor before establishing herself as leading actress in film. She has received List of awards and nominations re ...

in the 2021 film ''

The Mauritanian ''The Mauritanian'' is a 2021 legal drama film based on the memoir of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a Mauritanian man who was held from 2002 to 2016 without charge in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, a United States military prison. The film was dire ...

'', about the case of her client

Mohamedou Ould Slahi Mohamedou Ould Slahi (; born December 21, 1970) is a Mauritanian engineer who was detained at Guantánamo Bay detention camp without charge from 2002 until his release on October 17, 2016. Slahi traveled to Afghanistan in December 1990 "to supp ...

Early life and education

Hollander was raised in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. She received a Bachelor of Arts from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

University of New Mexico School of Law The University of New Mexico School of Law (UNM Law or New Mexico Law) is the law school of the University of New Mexico, a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1947, it is the only law school in the st ...

. As a student, Hollander was arrested three times while protesting as a member of

Students for a Democratic Society Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships a ...

Career

Hollander represented Slahi until 2016, when he was released from the

Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by p ...

. The film ''The Mauritanian'' is based on the story of Slahi's capture, torture, and detention, and Hollander's fight to win his release. Hollander also represents Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the alleged mastermind of the USS ''Cole'' bombing, who was tortured at CIA black sites and has been at Guantanamo Bay since 2006. Hollander won two judgments for al-Nashiri from the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

, resulting in damages to al-Nashiri. Hollander was lead counsel for Chelsea Manning's unsuccessful military appeal, but filed a successful application for commutation of Manning's sentence in 2017. Hollander has been a partner at Freedman Boyd Hollander Goldberg Urias & Ward, P.A., in Albuquerque, New Mexico, since 1983.

Personal life

Hollander was married to

Todd Gitlin Todd Alan Gitlin (January 6, 1943 – February 5, 2022) was an American sociologist, political activist and writer, novelist, and cultural commentator. He wrote about the mass media, politics, intellectual life, and the arts for both popular an ...

, an activist and academic associated with the

New Left The New Left was a broad political movement that emerged from the counterculture of the 1960s and continued through the 1970s. It consisted of activists in the Western world who, in reaction to the era's liberal establishment, campaigned for freer ...

movement. With him, she co-wrote ''Uptown: Poor Whites in Chicago.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hollander, Nancy Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American lawyers American criminal defense lawyers University of Michigan alumni University of New Mexico School of Law alumni New Mexico lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers 1944 births Lawyers from Dallas