Join the ACLU-NJ on April 9, 2013, for our 11th annual U.S. Supreme Court Briefing, featuring remarks from ACLU national Legal Director Steven Shapiro and a presentation of awards to some of the most influential, effective legal figures in New Jersey.

Fresh on the heels of historic oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court, the ACLU’s national Legal Director Steven Shapiro will share an inside account of the civil liberties questions that hinge on ACLU cases brought to the court this term. Register today – you won’t want to miss it.

The ACLU-NJ will present the Roger N. Baldwin Award to the Honorable James R. Zazzali, former Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, whose decisions on the court strengthened civil rights in the Garden State. Receiving the Legal Leadership Award are Professor Laura Cohen of Rutgers School of Law-Newark, a leading voice for juvenile justice, and the Fair Share Housing Center, a leader in ensuring access to affordable housing in New Jersey.

U.S. Supreme Court Briefing

Tuesday, April 9, 2013
6 p.m. Reception
7 p.m. Remarks and Program

The Newark Club
One Newark Center, 22nd Floor, Newark, New Jersey

RSVP by April 1, 2013

This term, the ACLU appears as counsel or co-counsel in six Supreme Court cases and as amicus curiae in at least six others. This year’s U.S. Supreme Court Briefing, featuring ACLU Legal Director Steven Shapiro, will give you an up-close look at:

• Windsor v. United States – The ACLU represents Edie Windsor, a widow whose fight to pay the same amount of taxes on her partner’s estate as those levied on surviving married spouses, rather than an amount no different from that of a stranger, strikes a challenge to the discriminatory federal Defense of Marriage Act.
• Shelby County v. Holder – The ACLU represents the Alabama NAACP, which intervened to defend Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, a crucial component of the 1965 law that requires some states, counties and towns with long records of voter discrimination to receive government approval before making changes to election policies.
• Association of Molecular Pathologists v. Myriad Genetics – The ACLU represents scientists and patients to challenge patents placed on gene mutations associated with breast and ovarian cancer, a practice that violates First Amendment principles regarding the free flow of information, disregards the Constitution’s ban on patenting products of nature, and stifles potentially lifesaving research, in Association of Molecular Pathologists v. Myriad Genetics.