Internationally
acclaimed civil rights attorney and social justice crusader
Morris Dees presents"With Justice For All" next
semester on Tuesday March 4, 2008 at 7:30 p.m in the Cooperage.
Faculty are encouraged to consider planning for Dees appearance
by including his work in their Spring courses in some way
and have their classes attend the lecture. The event
is part of the Andrea Neves and Barton Evans Social Justice
Lecture Series and the Center for Culture Gender and Sexuality
Heritage Lecture Series.
Dees is the co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a non-profit group specializing in lawsuits involving civil rights violations, domestic terrorism, and racially-motivated crimes. Dees and his associates have successfully battled and dismantled a series of hate groups, including the Aryan Nation and Ku Klux Klan, and have secured huge criminal, civil and financial judgments against them.
Dees is also a strong proponent of education about civil rights and the civil rights movement, and he was instrumental in the creation of the Civil Rights Memorial in Mobile, Alabama. For his efforts as an attorney and activist he has been named the Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, and has received the National Education Association's Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Award.
Dees will address how a commitment to justice for all will determine the nation's success in the next century as America becomes more diverse and economic disparity widens. He will also talk about how and why he became an attorney and founded the Southern Poverty Law Center, and discuss some of his more prominent cases. Finally, he will also discuss hate crimes and the need for the teaching of tolerance, love and respect for one another.
For more information contact Bruce Berkowitz at 4-2782 or berkowit@sonoma.edu.