Morris Dees

Morris Dees
Dees in 2015
Born
Morris Seligman Dees Jr.

(1936-12-16) December 16, 1936 (age 87)
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 attorney known as the co-founder and former chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), based in Montgomery, Alabama. He ran a direct marketing firm before founding SPLC.[2] Along with his law partner, Joseph J. Levin Jr., Dees founded the SPLC in 1971.[3]: 132–33  Dees and his colleagues at the SPLC have been "credited with devising innovative ways to cripple hate groups" such as the Ku Klux Klan, particularly by using "damage litigation".[4]

On 14 March 2019 the SPLC announced that Dees had been fired from the organization and the SPLC would hire an "outside organization" to assess the SPLC's workplace climate.[5][6][7] Former employees alleged that Dees was "complicit" in harassment and racial discrimination, and said that at least one female employee had accused him of sexual harassment.[8]

  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. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dees and Fiffer (1991) was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Sack, Kevin (May 12, 1996). "A Son of Alabama Takes On Americans Who Live to Hate". The New York Times.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "Civil rights organization announces dismissal of founder". Washington Post. Associated Press. March 14, 2019. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019.
  7. ^ Brown, Melissa (March 14, 2019). "Southern Poverty Law Center fires co-founder Morris Dees". Montgomery Adviser.
  8. ^ Burch, Audra D. S.; Blinder, Alan; Eligon, John (March 25, 2019). "Roiled by Staff Uproar, Civil Rights Group Looks at Intolerance Within". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 26, 2019.