By Tracy Schorn
March 6, 2017
美国民主党在全美50个州和80多个国家都有成员.C. Bar is beginning a regular feature to profile the people who make up our community. 阅读你的同龄人，他们的生活，他们在世界各地的工作.
Keith M. 哈珀是基尔帕特里克·汤森靠谱的滚球平台事务所的合伙人 & Stockton LLP. 从2014年6月到2017年1月，他是美国联邦调查局局长.S. Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. Before that he was a lawyer known for representing Indian Tribes and individual Native Americans. He is a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and the first member of a federally recognized Indian Tribe to serve as a U.S. ambassador.
You've recently gone back to civilian life after serving as UN Human Rights Ambassador. What was that experience like?
Serving our nation and President Obama as a representative on issues I care deeply about was the greatest of honors and humbling. And the fact is, what the U.S. 在像美国这样的多边机构中.N. 能对机构和结果产生深远的影响吗. Of course, our goal always is to ensure that we are having an impact on the ground regarding the issues that matter to real people.
There is a real obligation to get it right, particularly when you represent the United States. We are, 正如奥巴马总统反复强调的那样, 解决国际挑战不可或缺的国家. 我们的盟友和伙伴非常关心我们的立场. When the United States leads, 其他人通常会跟随，这是至关重要的, 特别是在人权等领域.
你能举例说明你在日内瓦期间所从事的工作吗?
One of the things that I'm most proud of our team and of our partners was our effort to address violence and discrimination against LGBTI persons. In 2014, 与世界所有地区的国家合作, 但我们的拉丁美洲伙伴发挥了卓越的领导作用, we drafted a resolution to study the continuing discrimination and violence faced by members of this community. 在这一成功的基础上，我们去年任命了一名美国靠谱的滚球平台.N. expert, despite massive opposition, to study and report regularly to the Council on violence and discrimination against LGBTI persons. 这是联合国系统第一次, somebody is going to look every day at these issues and will challenge state violence and discrimination. 我们现在有了一个独立的事实发现者.
我们还更加关注最恶劣的人权状况, including those in Iran, Syria, North Korea, Burundi, and South Sudan. And we made significant advances on addressing indigenous peoples issues, including regularizing the study of the scourge of violence against indigenous women and girls and enhancing the power of the Expert Mechanism on Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
在你成为大使之前，你最出名的是赢得了3美元奖金.40亿美元的集体诉讼和解 Cobell v. Salazar, in which Native American plaintiffs charged that the United States had mismanaged the trust funds of more than 500,000 Native Americans. 你能告诉我们更多关于那个案子的情况吗?
This is a case of historic injustice going back to the 19th century regarding the mismanagement of funds, natural resources, 以及由联邦政府托管的土地. [Lead plaintiff] Elouise Cobell was a tenacious fighter and the real engine behind this case. 1996年，她来到我们(在印第安人权利基金)的办公室. 科贝尔想在联邦法院挑战这种管理不善.
每当你有这样的法律或政治意义的运动, 你需要一个人们可以激励的标志性人物. She was that leader. But I also think that the other great figure in this story was Judge Royce Lamberth. 我承认，当我们第一次查到他的名字时, with his conservative background, I was a little concerned. But he actually turned out to be somebody prepared to hold government in account in a way that I think is rare. So we had the great honor of working with these two exceptional Americans, 和一组靠谱的滚球平台一起.
(这个案子)花了很长时间. I think the exact date we filed it was June 10, 1996, and we signed the settlement agreement in 2009. Then I think the Settlement Act was signed into law by President Obama in 2010.
[编者按:和解协议包括三部分:1美元.4 billion payment to individual plaintiffs included in the class action; a fund of $1.9 billion to buy back fractionated land interest in voluntary sales and to restore land to reservations, strengthening their land base; and a $60 million scholarship fund to be funded from the land sales, 命名为科贝尔教育奖学金基金.]
One thing Elouise really wanted was to establish a scholarship fund—something for the younger generations. 所以我们加入了一个六千万的奖学金基金. 不幸的是，法案通过后不久，露易丝就去世了. Such a tragic story. But what we should remember is that there is no doubt that the result here is a testament to her courage and tenacity.
Who’s been a role model to you?
[Lawrence W. Pierce of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit] taught me the importance of diligence, 确保你把事情做对, 就是思想开放，遵守律法.
But the people I’ve found most significant, as mentors, have been my clients. 我很荣幸为小比利·弗兰克辩护. 以及弗兰克登陆印第安人社区. Billy was a warrior from the great treaty fishing rights cases in the Pacific Northwest. He was one of those exceptional people of great charisma, but also extraordinary strength. 他与汉克·亚当斯等人密切合作. And they were essentially among the architects of the treaty fishing battles.
Ultimately, the Supreme Court upheld their treaty fishing rights and this transformed the economies of tribes in the Washington State area. 比利和他的祖先一直在这些地区捕鱼, 比如尼斯奎里河, and now they were being arrested by state officials for fishing without a license.
From him I learned the importance of being resolute and steadfast and being prepared for fights even when faced with great obstacles. And the importance of your story. Someone on the ground can articulate an injustice far better [than a lawyer can], 因为他们可以告诉你它如何影响他们的生活.
靠谱的滚球平台和外交官有什么共同之处吗?
当然，有很多相似之处. 一个外交官，就像一个诉讼靠谱的滚球平台的主要工作，是说服. The number one most important point of similarity is ensuring you have a strong narrative. 如果你想在外交上取得成功，你必须有一个好的叙事. Same with litigation. To be sure, to win a legal case, yes, 你必须知道适用的法律规则和法律是什么, but you need to be able to persuade [people] that the outcome you seek is the just outcome. What moves people is your story. 在外交和诉讼中都是如此.
What’s next? 回到基尔帕特里克感觉如何?
感觉就像回到了家. I'm looking forward to getting back to representing clients on the issues I’m passionate about, 包括部落社区面临的核心挑战:水权, hunting issues, sovereignty questions, etc. What excites me about working with Indian country is that tribes can be tremendous engines of innovation and economic development, while still preserving those things that are meaningful to their communities. 我也期待着继续从事国际工作. 但毫无疑问，我很高兴能回来.
你可以在推特上关注基思·哈珀 @AmbHarper.
