Civil rights lawyer and co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center Morris Dees spoke Tuesday night about the importance of justice in the world and his experience as a lawyer who is known for taking on controversial cases.
"There can be no peace in the world unless there's fairness and justice," Dees said.
Dees, brought by the Dickinson School of Law's LGBTQA organization OutLaw, spoke to approximately 200 people on "Equal Justice for All" in the Greg Sutliff Auditorium of the Lewis Katz Building. He is most known for his controversial civil rights cases in the South.
He said being a lawyer promises a lot of riches like a good, consistent salary to care for a family. But, he said there are more important rewards that come from a career in law.
"The riches you will gain from being a lawyer, the real things you'll remember are the people whose lives that you affected," Dees said.
He spoke of one case in particular that he said he found most touching. He said the case involved Michael Donald, a young black man who was lynched by two Ku Klux Klan members.
He represented Donald's mother in the case, and said one of the Klan members was sentenced to death. As the man was leaving the courtroom, he asked Mrs. Donald for forgiveness, he added.
Dees said there wasn't a dry eye in the room when Mrs. Donald responded, "Son, I've already forgiven you."
The Donald case was one of the most notable stories Dees told during his lecture, said Denise Conner (graduate-chemistry).
"From a legal standpoint, it was groundbreaking," Conner said. "I think it was good work. The words of the mother who lost her son were really, 'Wow.' "
Dees said that Martin Luther King Jr. had fears and doubts about a democracy with liberty and justice for all, but he had dreams, too.
Elementary school teacher Claudia Wilson, a Miles Township resident, has used the idea of taking dreams and making them a reality into action in her classes.
"I had my kids pick something they had a dream about," Wilson said. "I really challenged them to accomplish what their dream was."
