Candidate Statements for Lower Membership Chapter Seats

Abigail Byman

I have been an enthusiastic member of the ACLU since I joined at the same time I began my legal career 29 years ago in my home town of Chicago. At that time, the Nazis wanted to march on Skokie, Illinois and many of my relatives as well as others of my acquaintance quit the ACLU in disgust over its willingness to defend the civil liberties of such a vilified group. I thought at the time that they had it all wrong, that our rights mean nothing if they are not applicable to everyone, and so I joined. I was not, however, really active in the ACLU until after I moved to Pennsylvania in late 1995. The northeast Pennsylvania chapter was restarted a few years later, and I soon became its secretary, a post I have held to this day. A few years after that, I was asked to join the Governance Committee of the ACLU-PA, and I participated in the creation of revised bylaws for the ACLU-PA and the Foundation of the ACLU-PA. Earlier this year I was elected to fill the unexpired term of a Board member, and so I have attended two Board meetings as a member and one other as a member of the Governance Committee. My skills as a corporate nonprofit lawyer as well as my passion for preserving civil liberties, particularly now when they are constantly under threat, make me a committed and dedicated candidate for the Board of the ACLU-PA.

Ms. Byman serves as General Counsel and University Secretary of The University of Scranton. She lives with her family in the North Pocono area in Pennsylvania.

James Daniel Fisher

I am an associate professor of political science, and university pre-law advisor, at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. I hold a law degree from the College of William and Mary and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I am an expert on the U.S. Supreme Court, constitutional law, and abortion politics.

I am the new president of the Northwest Pennsylvania chapter of the ACLU. I am an officer and executive council member in the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties. I also have served as vice president in an interfaith organization that engages in community organizing and social justice advocacy.

I have organized and participated in several town hall meetings, panel discussions, and public lectures on civil liberties and social justice issues. I also provide political analysis for Erie television news programs and the Erie Times-News.

I live in Erie, Pennsylvania, with my spouse, Veronica, and my children, Augustine and Beatrice.

In my professional life I have attempted to protect civil liberties through education, public discussion, and community organization and mobilization. I am eager to use my knowledge and experience to serve the mission of one of the most important ACLU affiliates in the country.

William Rutherford

Mr. Bill Rutherford is currently a Board Member of the Lancaster ACLU Chapter. He is a self-employed Engineering and Construction/Project Management Consultant licensed as a Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts since 1980. He is a 1973 Worcester Polytechnic Institute graduate with over 30 years of experience as a senior executive, structural/civil engineer, construction manager and planner. Since 1999 he has provided technical services to attorneys, insurance companies and self-insured in the areas of civil/structural engineering, construction claims, construction related injuries and engineering professional liability as well as inspection services to Municipal Governments.

He has experience as a Chief Operating Officer, Chief Information Officer, Program Manager, Project Manager and Planner in Government, For Profit and Not-for-Profit organizations.

As a volunteer, he has worked at a variety of community related activities involving public education, not-for-profit businesses, libraries and the juvenile justice system in Lancaster County.

Bill strongly believes in the mission of the ACLU and thinks he can contribute to building and strengthening the ACLU of PA as a Board Member, especially with his experience in Program Management and Planning. If elected, he would seek assignments involving financial management, program development and planning and evaluation.

Nathan Tobey

I offer a wealth of previous ACLU leadership experience, both as the founder and three-term president of the Emory University ACLU in Atlanta and as a current board member of the Centre County Region ACLU. In both of these capacities, I have helped organize events and raise funds. At Emory, I successfully campaigned against implementing unwarranted pre-employment drug tests for university employees. Most recently, I led the planning of the Centre Region ACLU's annual "Ted Vallance Free Speech Event," which consisted of a debate on House Resolution 177 (the Academic Freedom Bill) between two prominent scholars. I also did investigative reporting on that story for the local Voices newspaper.

I am active contributor to the Centre County community, where I currently teach conflict resolution to inmates of the county jail, serve on a youth aid panel to mentor and rehabilitate juvenile offenders, and perform volunteer mediation work as a board member of the Center for Community Alternatives in Criminal Justice.

I work at Penn State Public Broadcasting, creating and managing diverse on-demand programming for a State-wide television and internet audience. I hold a bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, in history and journalism, and a master's degree in history, from Emory University.

I feel that my substantive legal, community, and communications experience would help me to make sustained contributions as a member of the state board. Although I am busy, I would not allow any my other responsibilities to conflict with my service to the ACLU State Board, if I were to be selected. For me, supporting the ACLU is a central, lifelong commitment and passion, and I hope to have the opportunity to expand my contribution to the state level.