Best Civil Liberties
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Clarence Darrow was a prominent American legal advocate known for his defense of individuals against powerful institutions. He achieved significant notoriety through the 1925 Scopes trial, arguing against the teaching of evolution. Primarily a trial lawyer, Darrow championed civil liberties and repr...
Leonard Weinglass (1933–2011) was an American criminal defense attorney known for representing clients in high-profile political cases. He was a member of the defense team for the Chicago Seven in their 1969–70 conspiracy trial arising from protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. He lat...
William O. Douglas was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1939 until his retirement in 1975, the longest tenure in the Court's history. Appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt after leading the Securities and Exchange Commiss...
Joseph L. Rauh Jr. was an American lawyer and political activist associated with labor rights, civil liberties, and the civil rights movement. He helped found Americans for Democratic Action in 1947, served for decades as general counsel to the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and represented...
Lord Scarman was a prominent British judge and Law Lord who served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1977 to 1986. He is historically recognized for chairing the public inquiries into the 1969 Northern Ireland riots and the 1981 Brixton riots. The resulting Scarman Report on the Brixton riots hea...
Harvey Silverglate is an American lawyer and civil liberties advocate based in Boston, known for his work on free speech, due process, and academic freedom issues. He co-founded the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) in 1999 with Alan Charles Kors to defend the rights of students a...
Observations on the Nature of Civil Liberty is a political pamphlet by the British dissenting minister and moral philosopher Richard Price, published in 1776 in defense of the American Revolution. Price argued that legitimate government depends on the consent and representation of the governed, pres...
Wiley B. Rutledge served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1943 until his death in 1949, appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Before his elevation to the Court, he served as dean of the University of Iowa College of Law and on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the...
Ramsey Clark served as the 66th U.S. Attorney General from 1967 to 1969 under President Lyndon B. Johnson. After his government service, he became a prominent civil liberties attorney known for representing controversial defendants, including foreign leaders facing international tribunals and indivi...
