Miami Hosts Latest Voting Rights Institute to Train New Generation of Voting Rights Lawyers

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Today, Campaign Legal Center’s latest Voting Rights Institute training will take place in Miami, Florida. At the session, co-hosted by American Constitution Society, practitioners will learn the ‘ins and outs’ of protecting the right to vote through the enforcement of voting rights laws.  Cases brought to enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution will be a particular focus of the training.  

The half-day training program, taught by some of the most respected voting rights practitioners in the country, will count toward Continuing Legal Education (CLE).  This will be the fifth Institute training session held this year, with previous trainings held in New York City, Atlanta, Georgia, Columbus, Ohio and Washington, DC.

“To understand the urgent need for a new generation of voting rights litigators one need look no further than the widespread voter suppression laws enacted in the run-up to the 2014 elections and currently being challenged in the courts,” said J. Gerald Hebert, Executive Director of the Campaign Legal Center.  “The Supreme Court’s disastrous Shelby County decision was a huge setback for voting rights in our nation, unleashing a flood of laws at the state and municipal level designed to curb voting rights.  Now, more than ever, we need a new generation of voting rights litigators to help win back the right of all Americans to vote.”

Experts in the field will provide background on the Voting Rights Act and relevant federal court cases to participants and will then focus on the mechanics of litigating voting rights cases.  Campaign Legal Center’s Executive Director J. Gerald Hebert serves as lead instructor and is joined by veteran voting rights litigators and scholars in the field.

In addition to Mr. Hebert, the Institute’s expert faculty will include: Nancy Abudu (Director of Legal Operations , ACLU of Florida); Neil Bradley (Former Associate Director at ACLU Voting Rights Project); Chad Dunn (Partner, Brazil & Dunn); and Franita Tolson (Betty T. Ferguson Professor of Voting Rights, Florida State University College of Law).

Financial support for the Voting Rights Institute has been provided by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, and the Wallace Global Fund.   Holland & Knight has also generously provided the use of its Miami offices for the training.

For more details on the timing and location of the Miami training, click here.