On March 6 at 6 pm Dennis D. Parker, the executive director of the National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ), will deliver the 31st annual Judge Frank M. Coffin Lecture on Law and Public Service. The event will take place at Hannaford Hall, 88 Bedford Street, Portland, ME.
In his lecture entitled Brown vs. Board of Education: How Far Have We Come, How Far Do We Have To Go, Parker will discuss the role litigation has to play in achieving educational equality. He will also talk briefly about his work in the Connecticut case of Sheff v. O’Neil, a landmark educational case filed in 1989 and finally settled in 2020.
Before beginning with NCLEJ, Parker served as the director of the Racial Justice Program of the ACLU, as the Chief of the Civil Rights Bureau of the New York Attorney General’s office and, before that, worked on and directed the educational work of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He began his legal career as a staff attorney in the Criminal Defense Division of the New York Legal Aid Society. He has co-authored or contributed chapters to books and articles dealing with civil rights and has lectured extensively across the country. He is an adjunct professor at Teachers College of Columbia University and New York University Law School.
Judge Frank M. Coffin
The Frank M. Coffin Lecture Series honors the late Judge Frank M. Coffin, longtime federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, former member of Congress, renowned leader and mentor in public service, and beloved friend of Maine Law. You can read more about Judge Coffin.
