Margaret M. Russell, Executive Board Member

Margaret M. Russell is a professor at the Santa Clara University School of Law in Santa Clara, Calif. As a scholar, teacher, and founding member of the Equal Justice Society, she is particularly drawn to the EJS vision of bringing together scholarly and many other communities to address complex problems of social justice and public policy.

Professor Russell’s teaching focuses on constitutional law, civil procedure, civil rights and civil liberties. She is the author of numerous articles in the areas of civil rights, civil liberties, and the interaction of law and media culture. As a constitutional law professor, she is frequently consulted as a media spokesperson and legal expert. She has lectured widely here and abroad to both academic and non-academic audiences.

At Santa Clara University, she is the incoming president of the Faculty Senate of Santa Clara University and affiliated with the Center for Social Justice & Public Service, the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and the Center for Multicultural Learning. She has been honored by the Asian Pacific Law Students Association and the Black Law Students Association for her contributions to student life at Santa Clara.

She is a past co-director of the Santa Clara University summer law program in Tokyo, Japan. In 1991, she traveled to South Africa with a delegation of legal scholars to provide consultation on constitution-drafting for the post-apartheid transition.

Professor Russell’s professional contributions also include service on several boards in addition to EJS. She is a member of the Academic Freedom Committee of the American Association of Law Schools, a trustee of the Oakland Museum of California, a member of the Legal Committee of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC), and a member of the affiliate diversity working group of the National ACLU.

For sixteen years, she served on the board of directors of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California; during that time, she chaired numerous committees and served for three years as chairperson of the board. For ten years, she served on the board of directors of the National ACLU, and was one of the board’s vice-presidents.

Before entering law teaching, Professor Russell’s experience in public service included: a fellowship at the public interest firm Public Advocates, Inc.; employment at Stanford Law School as the Director of Public Interest Programs and Acting Assistant Dean of Student Affairs; and a judicial clerkship with the Honorable James E. Doyle of the US District Court in Madison, Wisconsin. As a law student, she was one of the founders of the East Palo Alto Community Law Project (EPACLP), a low-income community law clinic that operated for twenty years; she also served as chair of the EPACLP board.

Professor Russell received an A.B. degree cum laude from Princeton University, a J.D. degree from Stanford Law School, and a J.S.M. degree from Stanford Law School.

Updated May 2006