Southern Poverty Law Center
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| Founded | 1971 |
|---|---|
| Founder |
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| Type |
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| 63-0598743 (EIN) | |
| Focus | |
| Location |
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Area served
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United States |
| Product |
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Key people
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J. Richard Cohen, President |
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Revenue
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$40,418,368 (2012 FY) |
| Endowment | $303 million |
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Employees
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254 |
| Website | www |
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. It is noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups, its classification of hate groups and other extremist organizations, its legal representation for victims of hate groups, and its educational programs that promote tolerance. The SPLC's classification and listing of hate groups – organizations that in its assessment "attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics" – and its labeling of certain people as extremists, have been the source of some controversy.
In 1971, Morris Dees and Joseph J. Levin Jr. founded the SPLC as a civil rights law firm based in Montgomery, Alabama. Civil rights leader Julian Bond joined Dees and Levin and served as president of the board between 1971 and 1979.
The SPLC originally advocated for a broad range of progressive civil rights issues. In 1979, it began to fight the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups with an innovative litigating strategy involving filing civil suits for monetary damages on behalf of the victims of hate group harassment, threats, and violence. Given the decline in such groups over the years, the SPLC has become involved in other civil rights causes, including cases concerned with institutional racial segregation and discrimination, discrimination based on sexual orientation, the treatment of illegal immigrants, and the separation of church and state. The SPLC has provided information about hate groups to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The SPLC does not accept government funds, nor does it charge its clients legal fees or share in their court-awarded judgments. Most of its funds come from appeals to donors which have helped it to build substantial monetary reserves. The SPLC has been criticized over particular listings and what some see as overly aggressive and misleading fundraising tactics.
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Wikipedia