Call Me Phaedra

Call Me Phaedra PDF

Author: Lise Pearlman

Publisher:

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 487

ISBN-13: 9781587904356

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The story of activist Fay Stender and her circle of colleagues from the McCarthy Era through the '70s. Set against a backdrop of protests, assassinations, headline trials and bitter Leftist rifts, this book is a key to understand the turbulent era in which she rose to fame as the "mouthpiece" for black militants only to meet a tragic end.

The Life of a Movement Lawyer

The Life of a Movement Lawyer PDF

Author: Jason Langberg

Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press

Published: 2024-05-16

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 1643364820

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Be inspired by this grassroots civil rights lawyer's quest for democracy, equality, and justice Born in 1947 and raised in rural South Carolina, Lewis Pitts grew up oblivious to the civil rights revolution underway across the country. A directionless white college student in 1968, Pitts committed to military service and was destined for Vietnam. Five years later—after a formative period in which he underwent an intellectual and moral awakening, was discharged as a conscientious objector, and graduated from law school—he embarked on an unlikely forty-year career as a crusading social justice attorney. The Life of a Movement Lawyer: Lewis Pitts and the Struggle for Democracy, Equality, and Justice chronicles how Pitts positively affected thousands of lives and communities, while working in various social movements and then for legal aid. These grassroots efforts included fights to end nuclear proliferation; seeking justice for victims and survivors of the Greensboro Massacre; restarting the local government in Keysville, Georgia; preserving Gullah culture on Daufuskie Island, South Carolina; and ending corruption in Robeson County, North Carolina. Beyond documenting a life well-lived and shedding light on lesser-known activists and movements, Langberg, in this thoroughly researched biography, explores problems that continue to afflict the United States today: poverty, inequality, environmental degradation, racism, police misconduct, voter suppression, child maltreatment, and corporate power. The Life of a Movement Lawyer will energize, inspire, and compel action by those who seek to continue the pursuit of justice for all.

The Life of a Movement Lawyer: Lewis Pitts and the Struggle for Democracy, Equality, and Justice

The Life of a Movement Lawyer: Lewis Pitts and the Struggle for Democracy, Equality, and Justice PDF

Author: ATTORNEY AT LAW JASON. LANGBERG

Publisher: University of South Carolina Press

Published: 2024-05-16

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781643364810

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Be inspired by this grassroots civil rights lawyer's quest for equity and justice. Born in 1947 and raised in rural South Carolina, Lewis Pitts grew up oblivious to the civil rights revolution underway across his native state and throughout the country. A directionless, white college student, in 1968 Pitts committed to military service and was destined for Vietnam. Five years later--after a formative period in which he underwent an intellectual and moral awakening, was discharged as a conscientious objector, and graduated from law school--he embarked on an unlikely forty-year career as a crusading social justice attorney. The Life of a Movement Lawyer: Lewis Pitts and the Struggle for Democracy, Equality, and Justice chronicles how Pitts positively affected thousands of lives working in civil rights movements for social change. Beyond documenting a life well-lived and shedding light on lesser-known activists and movements, Jason Langberg in this thoroughly researched biography explores issues that continue to threaten American democracy: poverty; climate change; police brutality; voter suppression; and corporate power. Pitts' life will energize, inspire, and compel action in those who seek to continue the pursuit of increased justice for all.

The Making of a Civil Rights Lawyer

The Making of a Civil Rights Lawyer PDF

Author: Michael Meltsner

Publisher: University of Virginia Press

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 9780813926957

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As a white Yale Law School graduate, Meltsner began his career with the Legal Defense Fund of the NAACP, working initially under Thurgood Marshall and later under Jack Greenberg. From his vantage point at LDF, Meltsner witnessed and participated in litigation support of the civil rights movement in the South. As the movement shifted north and the fight for desegregation gave way to black-power slogans, Meltsner remained involved with the LDF and later went on to teach public interest practice at Columbia Law School. He watched the move from the high expectations after the Brown v. Board of Education decision to the lows of subsequent resegregation. He recalls his involvement in other civil rights efforts, from the campaigns to abolish capital punishment to Muhammad Ali's legal battle to regain his right to box. Meltsner closes with a chapter that examines the strategic possibilities of the No Child Left Behind mandate. Meltsner brings a personal perspective to this assessment of the hopes, potential, and shifting terrain of public service law. A worthy read. --Vernon Ford Copyright 2006 Booklist.

Moving the Bar

Moving the Bar PDF

Author: Michael Ratner

Publisher:

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781682192504

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"Michael Ratner (1943-2016) was one of America's leading human rights lawyers. He worked for more than four decades at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) becoming first the Director of Litigation and then the President of what Alexander Cockburn called "a small band of tigerish people." He was also the President of the National Lawyers Guild. Ratner handled some of the most significant cases In American history. This book tells why and how he did it. His last case, which he worked on until he died, was representing truth-telling whistleblower and now political prisoner Julian Assange, the editor of WikiLeaks. Ratner "moved the bar" by organizing some 600 lawyers to successfully defend habeas corpus, that is, the ancient right of someone accused of a crime to have a lawyer and to be brought before a judge. Michael had a piece of paper taped on the wall next to his desk at the CCR. It read: 4 key principles of being a radical lawyer: 1. Do not refuse to take a case just because it is long odds of winning in court. 2. Use cases to publicize a radical critique of US policy and to promote revolutionary transformation. 3. Combine legal work with political advocacy. 4. Love people. Compelling and instructive, Moving the Bar is an indispensable manual for the next generation of activists and their lawyers"--Publisher's description.

A Season for Justice

A Season for Justice PDF

Author: Morris Dees

Publisher: Touchstone

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 382

ISBN-13:

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The grandson of a Klansman, who engineered the landmark civil suit that bankrupted the Ku Klux Klan, recounts the story of his battles against racism in the New South.

Transforming Practices

Transforming Practices PDF

Author: Steven Keeva

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780809225088

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From law school to the law firm, lawyers are taught and encouraged to win, with little regard to the emotional consequences. After years of being obsessed with winning, racking up billable hours, and fishing for clients, many lawyers lose sight of why they initially joined the ranks of the legal profession. This landmark book explains how to reconnect with the spiritual side of law practice. It presents profiles of firms and lawyers who have transformed their practices from heartless and cold professional endeavors into kinder, gentler operations, with more emphasis on the clients'--and their own--emotional and spiritual needs.

The People's Advocate

The People's Advocate PDF

Author: Daniel Sheehan

Publisher: Catapult

Published: 2013-09-01

Total Pages: 634

ISBN-13: 1619022532

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The People's Advocate is the autobiography of American Constitutional Trial Attorney Daniel Sheehan. Sheehan traces his personal journey from his working–class roots through Harvard Law School and his initial career in private practice. His early disenchantment led to his return for further study at Harvard Divinity School, and rethinking the nature of his career. Eventually his role as President and Chief Trial Counselor for the famous Washington, D.C.–based Christic Institute would help define his role as America's preeminent cause lawyer. In The People's Advocate, Sheehan details "the inside story" of over a dozen historically significant American legal cases of the 20th Century, all of which he litigated. The remarkable cases covered in the book include both The Pentagon Papers Case in 1971 and The Watergate Burglary Case in 1973. In addition, Sheehan served as the Chief Attorney on The Karen Silkwood Case in 1976, which additionally revealed the C.I.A.'s Israeli Desk had been smuggling 98% bomb–grade plutonium to the State of Israel and to Iran. In 1984, he was the Chief Trial Counsel on The American Sanctuary Movement Case, establishing the right of American church workers to provide assistance to Central American political refugees fleeing Guatemalan and Salvadorian "death squads." His involvement with the sanctuary movement ultimately led to Sheehan's famous Iran/Contra Federal Civil Racketeering Case against the Reagan/Bush Administration, which he investigated, initiated, filed, and then litigated. The resulting "Iran/Contra Scandal" nearly brought down that Administration, leading Congress to consider the impeachment over a dozen of the top–ranking officials of the Reagan/Bush Administration. The People's Advocate is the "real story" of these and many other historic American cases, told from the unique point of view of a central lawyer.

With Passion

With Passion PDF

Author: Michael Meltsner

Publisher: Quid Pro Books

Published: 2018-03-26

Total Pages: 428

ISBN-13: 1610277775

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Growing up in a Depression battered family, one tangled by a mortal secret, With Passion tells the improbable story of an unsung hero of the civil rights movement who thought of himself as a miscast lawyer but ended up defending peaceful protesters, representing Mohammad Ali, suing Robert Moses, counseling Lenny Bruce, bringing the case that integrated hundreds of Southern hospitals and named the principal architect of the death penalty abolition movement in the United States. More than a meditation on often-frustrating legal efforts to fight inequality and racism, Meltsner—also a novelist and playwright—vividly recounts the life of a New York City kid, struggling to make sense of coming of age amidst the tumult of vast demographic and cultural changes in the City. Now available in a quality eBook edition.

Sensing Injustice

Sensing Injustice PDF

Author: Michael E. Tigar

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2021-04-20

Total Pages: 521

ISBN-13: 1583679227

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The remarkable life of a lawyer at the forefront of civil and human rights since the 1960s By the time he was 26, Michael Tigar was a legend in legal circles well before he would take on some of the highest-profile cases of his generation. In his first US Supreme Court case—at the age of 28—Tigar won a unanimous victory that freed thousands of Vietnam War resisters from prison. Tigar also led the legal team that secured a judgment against the Pinochet regime for the 1976 murders of Pinochet opponent Orlando Letelier and his colleague Ronni Moffitt in a Washington, DC car bombing. He then worked with the lawyers who prosecuted Pinochet for torture and genocide. A relentless fighter of injustice—not only as a human rights lawyer, but also as a teacher, scholar, journalist, playwright, and comrade—Tigar has been counsel to Angela Davis, Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin (H. Rap Brown), the Chicago Eight, and leaders of the Black Panther Party, to name only a few. It is past time that Michael Tigar wrote his memoir. Sensing Injustice: A Lawyer's Life in the Battle for Change is a vibrant literary and legal feat. In it, Tigar weaves powerful legal analysis and wry observation through the story of his remarkable life. The result is a compelling narrative that blends law, history, and progressive politics. This is essential reading for lawyers, for law students, for anyone who aspires to bend the law toward change.