User:Wruizlaw/sandbox

Attorney Wilfredo Amr Ruiz is also a Chaplain who obtained his baccalaureate in Arts at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus, having studied his second year at Texas A & M University. Soon after, he attended the University of Puerto Rico Law School where he obtained a Juris Doctor degree and later was licensed admitted to the legal practice in 1992. In 1993 he joined the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps where he acted as a Defense and Legal Assistance Counsel representing service members in dozens of courts martial and military justice administrative boards. Alongside his honorable discharge he was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal in 1997. In 1998 he engaged in the private practice of the legal profession. In 2005 Ruiz decides to formalize graduate studies in religion at the Hartford Seminary in Connecticut; where he was admitted in the master’s degree program in Islam and Christian – Muslim relations. Later, he re-joined as a Naval Officer in the U.S. Navy Chaplain Officers Corps and attended the Navy Chaplain School at Newport, Rhode Island. He has worked as a chaplain in the Connecticut Valley Hospital, the main psychiatric institution of Connecticut; and also has worked as the Religious Services Specialist and Coordinator at the US Homeland Security Immigration Service Processing Centers in Puerto Rico and in Miami, FL. In December 2007 Ruiz had the opportunity to perform the Islamic religious duty known as “Hajj”; the major pilgrimage to Mecca. For the past seven years Ruiz has been a regular columnist at the main circulation newspaper of Puerto Rico, El Nuevo Día and is also a columnist for El Diario de NY, the main circulation Hispanic newspaper in New York. He is also a writer for Huffington Post, WebIslam from Spain, "Radio Dos Luces" Canary Islands, and political analysts for "Actualidad RT" Russian TV as well as guest columnist for various others publications in the United States. He founded the chapters of Puerto Rico and Connecticut of The American Muslim Association of North America (AMANA), currently acting as its legal adviser. He regularly engages on public presentations at colleges and universities, schools, professional, governmental and civic institutions on a variety of topics involving religion, legal and foreign policy. Ruiz is regularly interviewed and consulted as an expert on politics of the Middle East and the Muslim World; Islam, and Christian-Muslim relations on national and international media. These include: CNN, Univision, Telemundo, Venevision, America Te Ve, Mega TV, V Me TV, Radio France International; as well as multiple interventions in other media from Spain, Uruguay, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, and Puerto Rico where he is co-host to a weekly radio program on International Politics. He has participated in international conferences in several cities in the United States, as well as Chile, Argentina, Great Britain and Turkey.Ruiz current legal practice extends to Civil Rights, Immigration, Franchise, Hospitality, Contract and Corporate law. Ruiz is a member of the Puerto Rico Bar Association and has been admitted to practice before the US Supreme Court, US Court of Military Appeals, US District Court for Puerto Rico, US Court of Federal Claims, and the US Federal and First Circuit Courts. Attorney Ruiz likes international traveling as well as engaging in readings on theology, compared religions, and international politics. At the moment he lives in South Florida where he assists various non-profit organizations; presently functioning as the executive Director of the American Muslims for Emergency and Relief (AMER), also as a board member of the South Florida Interfaith Workers Justice and the Miami Dade Community Relations Board. Wilfredo A. Ruiz’ writings and interviews are cross-posted in his blog at www.analistainternacional.com.