Margaret L. Popkin, Executive Director of the Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF), Washington, DC, died May 18 from complications after heart surgery. She was 54.

Popkin was a graduate of the University of California, Berkley and had been a member of the New Hampshire Bar since 1980. Virginia Martin, Director of Legal Services for the Bar, valued Popkin as both a friend and a tireless advocate for justice. "The pursuit of justice and human rights was as natural as breathing to Maggi. To her this was simply what she did-nothing unusual or remarkable. While working courageously to make the world a better place, she was also deeply devoted to her family and her friends. She was an extraordinary woman, selfless lawyer, loving mother and loyal friend, who enriched lives all over the globe."

Writes Douglas Cassel, Executive President of DPLF: "Maggi was an extraordinary person. Her sharp intellect and extensive experience in Latin America made her one of the hemisphere's leading experts on due process of law and judicial processes in the Americas. For six years (since 1999) Maggi has been the mainstay of the DPLF. She did everything - conduct programs, raise funds, hire staff - and established DPLF as a recognized and respected organization in its field. Those of us who had the privilege to know and work with her will miss her greatly.

Maggi came to DPLF with a career already distinguished by achievement and purpose. A 1979 graduate of Boalt Law School, she worked in legal services in New Hampshire and at the National Center for Immigrants Rights in Los Angeles, before moving to El Salvador during that nation's crisis; she served as Deputy Director of the Human Rights Institute of the University of Central America in San Salvador from 1985 to 1992.

A consultant to the United Nations and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights during 1992-93, Maggi was a Fellow at the Schell Center for Human Rights at Yale in 1994 and at the Washington Office on Latin America during 1994-95. She became Program Director for Africa and Latin America at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights in Washington during 1995 to 1999.

Among her many publications is the book, Peace Without Justice: Obstacles to Building the Rule of Law in El Salvador (Penn State Press, 2000).

We all join in extending our sympathies to her mother Juliet, sister Susan, brother Jeremy, and son Damian."

In memory of our colleague, Margaret L. Popkin, the New Hampshire Bar Association's Board of Governors has contributed to the New Hampshire Bar Foundation, 112 Pleasant Street, Concord, NH 03301.

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