Local professor to be sworn in as NLG head
By DOUG SHERWIN, The Daily Transcript
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Thomas Jefferson School of Law professor Marjorie Cohn will be sworn-in as president of the 6,000-plus member National Lawyers Guild (NLG) on Oct. 20 at the NLG's annual convention in Austin, Texas.
Professor Cohn, who was elected to the position last October, will serve a three-year term as president.
"It is a great honor to be elected president of the National Lawyers Guild," she said. "The NLG began in 1937 as the first integrated bar association in the country. Since then, Guild lawyers, law students and legal workers have been in the forefront of the struggles for equality and justice.
"I am proud that Thomas Jefferson School of Law has one of the largest and most active NLG chapters in the country. My students are committed to using the law as a tool for social change. They have internalized the guiding principle of the National Lawyers Guild -- that human rights are more sacred than property interests."
Professor Cohn teaches evidence, criminal law, criminal procedure and international human rights law. In 2005 she received the San Diego County Bar Association's 2005 Service to Legal Education Award.
"Marjorie Cohn is an exceptional faculty member who combines excellent work as a teacher and scholar, a passion for issues involving civil liberties and civil rights with a genuine connection to the community," said Rudy Hasl, dean of Thomas Jefferson. "We are fortunate to have her as a part of the Thomas Jefferson law school community."