Morris Dees, Jr. (December 16, 1936)

Morris Dees, Jr. is the co-founder and chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Like many activist American Jews, he has lived his belief in social justice by founding the SPLC and leading its efforts for many years. Effective court cases pressed by SPLC lawyers, including Dees, have produced justice and thwarted some of the ugliest racism and prejudice our society manages to produce. Educational materials from SPLC seem to contribute to an effective improvement in tensions between various groups in some schools, and even to increasing tolerance of many minorities. The SPLC tracking of American hate groups is so important that even the government (which maybe should be doing its own work) relies on their research and observations. The organization that Dees created is thus of great importance to Jewish well-being as well as to that of many other groups.