Christic Institute

The Christic Institute was a public interest law firm founded in 1980 by Daniel Sheehan, his wife Sara Nelson, and their partner, William J. Davis, a Jesuit priest, after the successful conclusion of their work on the Silkwood case.

Based on the ecumenical teachings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and on the lessons they learned from their experience in the Silkwood fight, the Christic Institute combined investigation, litigation, education and organizing into a unique model for social reform in the United States.

Christic notably represented victims of the nuclear disaster at Three Mile Island; they prosecuted KKK and American Nazi Party members for killing Communist Workers Party demonstrators in the 1979 Greensboro Massacre (they also charged certain police and federal agents who they said had known about potential violence and had not adequately protected the victims); and they defended Catholic workers providing sanctuary to Salvadoran refugees (American Sanctuary Movement).

[1] Among the 30 defendants named were Iran–Contra figures John K. Singlaub, Richard V. Secord, Albert Hakim, and Robert W. Owen; Central Intelligence Agency officials Thomas Clines and Theodore Shackley; Contra leader Adolfo Calero; Medellin cartel leaders Pablo Escobar Gaviria and Jorge Ochoa Vasquez; Costa Rican rancher John Hull; and former mercenary Sam N.

[6] On November 16 and 17, 1990, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, and Jackson Browne performed a benefit concert for the Christic Institute at the Shrine Auditorium while the case was on appeal before the Eleventh Circuit.

Avirgan complained that Sheehan had handled matters poorly by chasing unsubstantiated "wild allegations" and conspiracy theories, rather than paying attention to core factual issues.