Morris Dees

Morris Dees
Dees in 2015
Born
Morris Seligman Dees Jr.

(1936-12-16) December 16, 1936 (age 88)
Shorter, Alabama, U.S.[1]
Alma materUniversity of Alabama (LLB)
Occupation(s)Civil and political rights, social justice activist
Known forFounder of the Southern Poverty Law Center

Morris Seligman Dees Jr. (born December 16, 1936) is an American lawyer and activist. He is known as the co-founder and former chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).[2] Dees founded the SPLC in 1971. Dees and the SPLC have been thanked for finding ways to weaken hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan through litigation.[3]

In March 2019 the SPLC announced that Dees had been fired from the organization.[4][5][6] He has been accused of racial discrimination and sexual harassment.[7]

Early life

Dees was born in 1936 in Shorter, Alabama.[8] His family was Baptist.[9] After graduating magna cum laude from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1960,[10] Dees returned to Montgomery, Alabama, where he opened a law office. He said that the fictional lawyer Atticus Finch was one of the reasons why he wanted to become a lawyer.[11]

Political career

In 1958, Dees started his political career by working for George Wallace, who later became the Governor of Alabama.[12] In 1972, he began working with U.S. Senator George McGovern as his national finance director.[13] In 1976, he became President Jimmy Carter's national finance director. In 1980, Dees became the national finance chairman for Senator Ted Kennedy's presidential campaign against Carter.[14]

Assassination attempts

Dees's legal actions against racist organizations had made him the target of many assassination attempts.[15] In 2007, Dees said that more than 30 people had been jailed in connection with plans to either kill him or blow up the SPLC,[16] however a Montgomery police spokesman said he was not aware that the SPLC had informed the police of threats.[16]

The Montgomery Advertiser found that a letter which talked about a plot was sent by Hal Turner, a radio talk show host, a paid FBI informant and a white supremacist, on July 29, 2007, after the SPLC sued the Imperial Klans of America (IKA) in Meade County, Kentucky.[16][17][18]

More readings

  • Dees, Morris & Steve Fiffer (2003). A Lawyer's Journey: The Morris Dees Story. Chicago: American Bar Association. ISBN 1-57073-994-3.
  • Dees, Morris (1997). Gathering Storm: America's Militia Threat. Harper Perennial. ISBN 0-06-092789-5.
  • Dees, Morris & Steve Fiffer (1993). Hate on Trial: The Case Against America's Most Dangerous Neo-Nazi. New York: Villard Books. ISBN 0-679-40614-X.
  • Dees, Morris; Steve Fiffer (1991). A Season for Justice: The Life and Times of Civil Rights Lawyer Morris Dees. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 978-0-684-19189-8.

References

  1. ↑ "SPLCenter.org: Morris Dees Biography". Southern Poverty Law Center. 2009. Archived from the original on February 6, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Attorney Morris Dees pioneer in using 'damage litigation' to fight hate groups". CNN. September 8, 2000. Archived from the original on December 23, 2007. Retrieved August 17, 2007.
  3. ↑ Sack, Kevin (May 12, 1996). "A Son of Alabama Takes On Americans Who Live to Hate". The New York Times.
  4. ↑ Hassan, Adeel; Zraick, Karen; Blinder, Alan (March 14, 2019). "Morris Dees, a Co-Founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Is Ousted". The New York Times.
  5. ↑ "Civil rights organization announces dismissal of founder". Washington Post. Associated Press. March 14, 2019. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019.
  6. ↑ Brown, Melissa (March 14, 2019). "Southern Poverty Law Center fires co-founder Morris Dees". Montgomery Adviser.
  7. ↑ Burch, Audra D. S.; Blinder, Alan; Eligon, John (2019-03-25). "Roiled by Staff Uproar, Civil Rights Group Looks at Intolerance Within". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  8. ↑ Monroe, Carla R. "Morris Dees | biography – American civil rights lawyer". Britannica.com. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Morris Dees: Biography: Family History and Childhood". Learntoquestion.com. Archived from the original on August 22, 2004. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  10. ↑ Legends Archived August 5, 2019, at the Wayback Machine. University of Alabama. Accessed April 24, 2017
  11. ↑ "The Contested Legacy of Atticus Finch". The New Yorker. December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 27, 2024.
  12. ↑ Bill Morlin (January 26, 1999). "Targeted by hate groups, Dees also has their number". The Spokesman-Review. p. A4.
  13. ↑ Stone, Andrea (August 3, 1996). "Morris Dees: At center of the racial storm". USA Today.
  14. ↑ Shogan, Robert (October 28, 1979). "Kennedy to Tell Candidacy Prior to Thanksgiving". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved July 17, 2007.
  15. ↑ "Group is accused of plotting assassinations, bombings. 2 others will plead guilty Thursday". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri: Lee Enterprises. May 13, 1998. p. B1.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Klass, Kym (August 17, 2007). "Southern Poverty Law Center beefs up security". Montgomery Advertiser. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  17. ↑ "Former member: Ky. Klan plotted to kill attorney". Associated Press. November 13, 2008. Retrieved September 18, 2007.[dead link]
  18. ↑ "Jordan Gruver v. Imperial Klans of America". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved September 18, 2012.

Other websites

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