The Civil Rights Section works to preserve constitutional rights and vindicate the rights of individuals whose civil rights have been violated. Practice areas include police misconduct cases of all kinds, including excessive force and false arrest cases; malicious prosecution cases; antibullying cases; First Amendment retaliation cases; cases involving the right to freely associate; political oppression cases; state-created danger cases; prisoners’ rights cases; and all cases involving governmental oppression.
Honors an attorney or a civil rights advocate who has made a noteworthy contribution to the defense of civil rights by bringing, trying, or resolving a suit, or by otherwise protecting or advancing civil liberties, in a way that has had a significant impact in the past year. This award is presented by AAJ's Civil Rights Section.
Learn about the AwardSection members, visit AAJ's Community Center to connect with your colleagues, search discussion archives, download documents, read the latest blog posts, update your list server settings, and more. Section Member Login
Section Leadership
- Chair: Jonathan Matt Eichelberger | Eichelberger Law Firm, PLLC, Jackson, MS
- Chair-Elect: Amber Pang Parra | Justinian & Associates PLLC, San Antonio, TX
- Vice Chair: Daniel Purtell | McEldrew Young, Philadelphia, PA
- Membership Liaison: Jed Stone | Stone & Associate, Ltd., Waukegan, IL
- Secretary: Helen Vu | Halperin Law Center, LLC, Glen Allen, VA
- Content Curator: Tiega Varlack | Varlack Legal Services, Hayward, CA
- Immediate Past Chair: Jonathan Eric Halperin | Halperin Law Center, LLC, Glen Allen, VA
Learn More
About AAJ's Sections
Sections connect you to groups of leading practitioners and provide you with cutting-edge strategies, proven trial techniques, numerous networking opportunities, and the tools necessary to successfully litigate your cases in order to achieve a full recovery of damages for your clients.
Who Can Join?
Section membership is open to all membership categories and Paralegal Affiliates. Certain benefits in membership categories other than Regular, Life, Sustaining, and President's Club may be restricted. In particular, access to the Section e-mail list servers are limited to Regular, Life, Sustaining, and President's Club Members, and sponsored Law Professors and Paralegal Affiliates. The online document libraries are limited to Regular, Life, Sustaining, and President's Club Members. List server participants and access to a Section's document library requires membership in that specific Section.
