The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of North Carolina honored Deborah Weissman, Reef C. Ivey II Distinguished Professor of Law at UNC School of Law, for outstanding civil rights work at the Frank Porter Graham Awards Ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 16.
Weissman won the Frank Porter Graham Award, cited as the group's most prestigious honor, for her years of service "across the state to promote a vision of North Carolina that respects individual rights, human dignity, and due process."
"As a legal scholar and activist, Weissman has contributed an extraordinary amount of research, writing, teaching, mentoring and advocacy in defense of liberty," noted award organizers.
From 1994 to 1998, Weissman was deputy director and then executive director at Legal Services of North Carolina. In her current position at UNC School of Law, Weissman teaches the Immigration/Human Rights Policy Clinic, Domestic Violence Law, and has taught the Civil Lawyering Process and the Civil Litigation Clinic. Weissman has co-authored studies showing “the climate of racial profiling and community insecurity” created when local police are given federal immigration powers and has testified about her findings before a U.S. House subcommittee. She has also worked on issues concerning poverty, gender violence, workers’ rights and extraordinary rendition.
For more information about the ceremony and honorees, visit ACLU of North Carolina.
-February 20, 2013