Morris Dees

Morris Seligman Dees Jr. (born December 16, 1936) is an American attorney who is the co-founder and former chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)

Quotes

• Most lawyers are used to trying to win a case on some kind of technical or evidentiary ground. We had to teach them to rethink death cases. Most capital defendants are guilty.
  • 1990 Interview with Morris Dees Litigation (American Bar Association)

Quotes about Morris Dees

• Early in 1984, Morris Dees, co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, suggested that Mrs. Donald file a civil suit against the members of Unit 900 and the United Klans of America. The killers were, he believed, carrying out an organizational policy set by the group's Imperial Wizard, Robert Shelton. If Dees could prove in court that this theory of agency applied, Shelton's Klan would be as liable for the murder as a corporation is for the actions its employees take in the service of business.
  • 1987, New York Times

• The Southern Poverty Law Center fired Morris Dees, the nonprofit civil rights organization's co-founder and former chief litigator.
  • Melissa Brown and Brian Edwards, Southern Poverty Law Center fires co-founder Morris Dees, Montgomery Advertiser, March 14th 2019

• The Southern Poverty Law Center has fired its famed co-founder, Morris Dees, over unspecified misconduct, the nonprofit announced Thursday.
  • Matt Pearce, Southern Poverty Law Center fires co-founder Morris Dees amid employee uproar, Los Angeles Times, March 14th 2019

• A letter signed by about two dozen employees — and sent to management and the board of directors before news broke of Dees’ firing — said they were concerned that internal “allegations of mistreatment, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and racism threaten the moral authority of this organization and our integrity along with it.”
  • Matt Pearce, Southern Poverty Law Center fires co-founder Morris Dees amid employee uproar, Los Angeles Times, March 14th 2019

• Asked about the nature of Dees’ alleged misconduct, a spokesman for the organization said in an email: “We can’t comment on the details of individual personnel decisions.”
  • Matt Pearce, Southern Poverty Law Center fires co-founder Morris Dees amid employee uproar, Los Angeles Times, March 14th 2019