EJS
President Eva Paterson (left) and board chairman
Professor Charles J. Ogletree, Jr.
The
History of EJS
In
the Fall of 2000, several individuals from the progressive
legal community began meeting to discuss their mounting
concerns about the rightward tilt of the courts and of
legal doctrine in such fields as civil rights, environmental
protection, voting rights, criminal law, immigration law,
and federalism. Like many progressives around the country,
we were tired of despairing separately about the rollback
of decades of achievements in case precedent, social justice
lawyering, and organizing.
Drawing
upon the strength of existing progressive legal organizations
and forging new alliances with think tanks and research
institutes, the EJS core group concluded that the time
is ripe for a new coalition of practitioners, academics,
think tanks and students to develop and implement innovative
legal theories and strategies.
Our
Guiding Principles
We
believe that the regressive right-wing bias of our federal
judicial system is a threat to constitutional democracy,
due process, and equality. We believe in a representative,
impartial, and independent judiciary. We believe in the
role of courts to provide full access to the legal system
and to promote equal justice for all.
Guided
by these principles, the Equal Justice Society aims to
unify and organize those who are interested in generating,
developing, and supporting innovative legal theories and
strategies to eliminate the conservative bias of our legal
system. Specifically, the Equal Justice Society seeks
to: develop and disseminate new legal theories to help
ensure fairness and democracy; sponsor forums, presentations
and debates on the legal issues of our day; mentor progressive
advocates to go forth and fight for social justice; and
forge concrete connections between law students and those
who are out on the front lines practicing law, working
for justice, developing jurisprudence, and serving on
the bench.
