Equal Justice Society Launches Constance Baker Motley Civil Rights Fellowship
May 26
SAN FRANCISCO (May 26, 2006) – A unique dialogue between two legal giants, Harvard Law Professor Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., and Morrison & Foerster senior partner James J. Brosnahan, will be the centerpiece of an event to launch a new civil rights fellowship established by the Equal Justice Society. The Constance Baker Motley Civil Rights Fellowship is aimed at nurturing the talents of a new generation of progressive lawyers to transform anti-discrimination law and policy.
The June 1 event in San Francisco’s Chinatown will feature a candid conversation on civil rights and race relations between Ogletree and Brosnahan, moderated by Santa Clara University constitutional law professor Margaret Russell. Brosnahan and Russell serve on the EJS board of directors, which Ogletree chairs.
The new fellowship, named in honor of Constance Baker Motley, the first African American woman on the federal bench, will be awarded annually to a recent law school graduate committed to advancing racial justice through innovative legal strategies and progressive public policy. The first Motley fellow will begin this September and work with the organization for one year.
“Judge Motley played a major role in the ongoing effort to end racial injustice in this country,” said Eva Paterson, EJS president. “Her incredible life is not only marked by how many barriers she broke on behalf of women and Black Americans, but also the considerable legal skills and talents she brought to winning Brown v. Board and to the numerous cases she heard on the bench.” Judge Motley passed away last year.
