.png)
Lockhaven Solutions LLC is a Hispanic &
SBA and NVBDC Certified Service-Disabled Veteran owned business.
Dr. Jack Dever has always worked to advance human rights. While deployed to Iraq as an Army JAG officer, he championed the protection of ethnic minorities, including the Mujahedin e-Khaliq “MeK.” The MeK had wrongfully been declared a hostile force at the beginning of the war and targeted by coalition forces. Jack recognized this tragic mistake and corrected it. He advocated to change the Mek’s status from hostile force to protected persons. He was successful. Jack’s actions saved lives; the MeK were no longer targeted and in fact de-listed from the Department of State Terrorist List. In the aftermath of the Abu Ghraib scandal, he was selected to be the US Army liaison to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). In this role he deployed again to Iraq and later to Afghanistan to ensure the humane conduct of detention in adherence to the rule of law. He spearheaded investigations into prisoner abuse and prosecuted criminal acts. This effort had long-lasting impact as one of the policies he drafted, the Interrogation and Counter-Resistance Policy, promoted human rights and remained in force throughout the conflicts.
Deployed to the Horn of Africa, he participated in a multi-national effort to assist local people to develop financial stability through reconstruction projects. Deployed to Bosnia, he was the legal liaison with the Office of the Prosecutor, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, addressing issues related to individuals indicted for war crimes. Seeing firsthand the horrors of ethnic cleansing gave Jack a lifelong desire to aid those who suffer the rigors of war. Given the regular discovery of mass graves, Jack saw that the heartbreaking process to identify dead relatives at that time was for the grieving family members to journey to a morgue in Tuzla and page through thousands of pictures of tattered clothes and other artifacts found on the victims in mass graves. This was done in a desperate and usually fruitless effort to identify a loved one by recognizing what they were wearing when killed. To help eliminate the agony of this process for surviving family members, Jack was instrumental in creating a ground-breaking advancement for these victims by instituting an identification process of matching DNA between family members and war remains.
Jack retired from the Army due to the wounds he sustained in combat. He never retired from the pursuit of social justice and service to humankind. He became a federal prosecutor, an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA), in Chicago. The son of a Hispanic immigrant to the US, Jack is fluent in Spanish and understood justice for underserved communities is not always meted out in courtrooms. He championed diversionary programs for youthful offenders and declined to prosecute certain drug-related crimes due to their disproportionate impact on underserved communities. He actively supported “Project Safe Neighborhoods” in Chicago and worked alongside community and religious leaders to get guns off streets and children back in school.
As FBI Assistant General Counsel, Jack met with Muslim community leaders to improve relations between American citizens and law enforcement. He also traveled globally, including many trips to Central and South America, developing and improving US partner relationships.
Since transitioning to the private sector, he has assisted banks in developing micro-lending programs to invest in underbanked communicates and championed and led diverse hiring initiatives. Jack has held leadership positions in both Hispanic and Veteran forums. He co-founded the Center for National Security and Human Rights Law in Chicago, an institution devoted to the global advancement of fundamental human rights, with particular focus on protecting civilians during armed conflict.
He has presented academic papers at both the National Association of Hispanic and Latino Studies as well as the National Association of African American Studies. Jack assisted in translating lessons plans from English into Spanish for Central American schools in support of the Albert Schweitzer Institute and is a member of the National Hispanic Bar Association. Having been wounded in combat, he regularly dedicates time to assist fellow Veterans and is a staunch advocate for mental health programs for all Veterans returning from war.
As an Army JAG officer, James volunteered to defend the rights of the first trans Soldier at the US Army Cyber Center of Excellence to undergo gender-affirming surgery. The Soldier was successful in remaining on active service. He also litigated in court on behalf of Veterans suffering combat related post-traumatic stress syndrome. He secured Veterans Affairs health benefits for at-risk former service members by upgrading their characterization of discharge before the Army Board for Correction of Military Records. At the US Army Intelligence School, he redesigned the courses taught to military interrogators, psychologists, and mental health professionals by adding classes on Geneva Convention protocols to ensure proper treatment of persons in US custody during wartime.
Prior to the Army, James worked at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Office of Civil Rights and Liberties. He held discussions with Sikh community leaders to educate TSA about the religious and privacy concerns caused by then-emerging technology such as the airport whole-body imager. He also volunteered at the Institute for American Indian Studies. He wrote a History of the Schaghticoke People and researched the process for how state-recognized Indigenous Peoples obtain federal recognition. He held Hispanic Diversity Fellowships throughout graduate school and is a member of the National Hispanic Bar Association.
