Civil Liberties & Civil Rights Section

Do you have presentation ideas for the 2024 Bill of Rights Course?

Planning is currently ongoing for the 2024 Bill of Rights Course, which is scheduled for Friday, May 3, 2024. The Planning Committee is currently working on the schedule and will be finalizing it before the end of October 2023. If you have a presentation suggestion or proposed speaker that you would like to submit to the planning committee, please send an email to the Course Director, Matthew Kolodoski.

Are you interested in Section leadership?

If you are a Section member with ideas for improving the Section’s service to members, please consider serving on the Council. Council members serve a three-year term.

To nominate yourself, please send an email to the Section Chair, Joshua Abrams, to express your interest and obtain the short council application. In your email, please include the name and contact information.

Members and officers of the Council are elected each year at the Section’s annual meeting.

The deadline for submitting a nomination to the Committee is 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 3, 2024.

Members of the Nominations Committee include Joshua Abrams, Kevin Davidson, and Chad Baruch.

Accepting Nominations for 2024 Wiseman Award

Each year the Civil Liberties & Civil Rights Section honors a Texas lawyer with the Patrick Wiseman Award for Civil Rights in recognition of his or her outstanding contribution to the civil rights and liberties of all Texans. Past recipients of the award have included Allyson Ho, Thomas Leatherbury, Chad Baruch, and James Harrington. You can find a complete list of past recipients on here.

Nominations are now open for the 2024 Wiseman Award. Any current Section member is eligible to nominate a Texas lawyer (including non-Section members) for the Wiseman Award. If you would like to nominate someone, please submit their name and a brief description explaining how the nominee has contributed to the civil rights and liberties of all Texans to the chair of the Nominations Committee, Kevin Davidson. Please also include either a copy of their resume or a link to an online biography, if available.

All nominations are due by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, December 15, 2023.

Request for Referrals from UH’s Appellate Civil Rights Clinic

The Appellate Civil Rights Clinic at the University of Houston Law Center represents clients and amici in appeals of civil rights claims in federal and state courts. The clinic welcomes referrals from trial counsel and represents (pro bono) clients in appeals throughout the country.

The clinic focuses on § 1983 claims based on police misconduct and unconstitutional prison conditions; cases arising from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations; and all other violations of constitutional and civil rights. The clinic does not take criminal or immigration appeals or post-conviction petitions.

Participants are third-year students able and expected to perform all aspects of appellate work, but faculty will provide close supervision, ensure high quality representation, and remain counsel of record.

The clinic director is Adjunct Professor Martin Siegel of the Law Offices of Martin J. Siegel, reachable here or here.