Wendi Warren Binford

Wendi Warren Binford is an American attorney, professor, writer, and international children’s rights scholar. She is a Professor of Law and Director of the Clinical Law Program at Willamette University and founded Willamette’s Child and Family Advocacy Clinic to provide pro bono legal support for children and families.[1][2]

Wendi Warren Binford
OccupationLaw professor
Academic background
Alma materBoston University; Harvard Law School
Academic work
InstitutionsWillamette University

Education

She holds a bachelor of arts degree summa cum laude with distinction in literature and psychology, and a master's of education degree from Boston University.[3] She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa honor society.[4] She is also a graduate from Harvard Law School.[4]

Binford worked for eight years at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP where her specialty was litigation and corporate transactions.[4] Binford was Special Assistant Attorney General in Oregon from 2006-2011.[5] Binford has practiced law in California and Oregon. Throughout her legal career she has provided legal help to Save the Children, the International Red Cross, the International Criminal Court, the Japanese Red Cross Society, the Croatian Red Cross, and the Dutch National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking and Sexual Violence against Children.[5] She is in the bar for the U.S. District Court, Eastern and Northern Districts of California, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.[5] She has also served as a middle school teacher in South Central LA and as a Court Appointed Special Advocate.[4][6]

In the summer of 2019, Binford interviewed children at a detention center at American-Mexican border in Texas under the Flores Settlement.[7] She took two of her law students and started a GoFundMe to raise money for other volunteers.[7] At the border she was critical of the conditions the migrant children were being held, later conducting interviews on the subject describing what she experienced.[5][8]

Research

Throughout her career, Wendi Warren Binford has written nearly 60 publications including law review articles, book chapters, and essays such as "Beyond Paroline: Ensuring meaningful remedies for child pornography victims at home and abroad" and "The Constitutionalization of Children's Rights in South Africa". Her publications, though spanning a variety of topics, primarily relate to children's issues.[4]

As a Fulbright Scholar in South Africa and as a Fulbright Canada-Palix Foundation Distinguished Visiting Chair in Canada, Binford conducted research related to children's rights.[4] More specifically, in 2015 Binford's work pertained to brain science research with a focus on the effects of child pornography on victims.[9] In 2017 Binford then presented a related TED Talk titled "Sex, Porn, & Manhood" explaining her research on the impact of extreme internet pornography on a child's development.[6] In 2014, in conjunction with her work with the Willamette Child and Family Advocacy Clinic, Binford conducted research on immigrant children, specifically those crossing the border alone who were in need of legal representation.[1]

News coverage

In June 2019, Binford visited the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility in Clint, Texas, in order to assess conditions at the immigrant detention center there.[5][8][10] Following this, Binford wrote a report and conducted several interviews detailing the conditions within this detention center, alleging the unlawful mistreatment of migrant children.[11][12] In 2019, her report then led to national backlash against U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the eventual resignation of John Sanders, the agency director.[10][13]

Awards

2012 Fulbright Scholar at the University of the Western Cape in Bellville, South Africa[9]

Inaugural chair-holder of the Fulbright Distinguished Visiting Research Chair in Brain Science and Family Wellness in Canada[9]

References
  1. "Living Willamette's motto, law professor protects children's rights". willamette.edu. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  2. "Oregon". www.americanbar.org. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  3. Binford, Warren (2015). "The Digital Child". SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2563874. ISSN 1556-5068.
  4. "W. Warren H. Binford Faculty Biography | Willamette University College of Law". willamette.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  5. Oregonian/OregonLive, Christina Morales | The (2019-06-29). "An Oregon lawyer visited border patrol facilities in the El Paso sector; here's what she knows and what it means". oregonlive. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  6. "Warren Binford". TEDxSalem. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  7. "Salem law professor to meet separated children". KGW. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  8. "Law Professor Describes Poor Conditions Where Migrant Children Are Held". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  9. "Law professor is Willamette's first Fulbright Distinguished Chair". willamette.edu. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  10. housing, About Rachel Monahan Rachel Monahan joined Willamette Week in 2016 She covers; Hall, City. "Willamette University Professor Raises Outcry for Migrant Children in "Worse Than Actual Prison Conditions"". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  11. "Attorney who went inside Texas center housing migrant children describes neglect". MSNBC.com. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  12. Romero, Simon; Kanno-Youngs, Zolan; Fernandez, Manny; Borunda, Daniel; Montes, Aaron; Dickerson, Caitlin (2019-07-06). "Hungry, Scared and Sick: Inside the Migrant Detention Center in Clint, Tex". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  13. "Acting head of Customs and Border Protection resigns, acting ICE leader tapped". ABC News. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
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