by Rhona Mahony. Barbara Olshansky, a visiting professor at Stanford Law School, 
spoke at Stanford on May 29 to describe her work on behalf of people who have been imprisoned as suspects in the "War on Terror." She did not hide her passion under a formal suit or polite legal terms. She wore her black, tightly frizzy hair long. Her red, Cat Woman eyeglasses had sparkley sequins. At times her eyes teared up, at others her voice cracked. Her colleague on the speakers’ panel, Marc Falkoff, described her as a force of nature. Yes! A ball of fire!
That night, Olshansky didn’t want to talk about Guantanamo. We know about Guantanamo. The domestic fuss, the international scandal, and the dismay of allied governments have worn down the Bush Administration. Now everyone, even President Bush, wants to close it. Olshansky was worried about the other prisons, places less famous and places completely secret, where a still unknown number of people are locked up without being charged, without access to a lawyer, and without trial.
Like his colleague on the speakers’ panel, 
came to Stanford University last week, on May 29, to describe the men locked up in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo, Cuba. He is a lawyer, now working for the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, who has represented five of the prisoners. He has been to Guantanamo and met his clients in person.