JANS – The ACLU MS has added a new position to its arsenal of justice seekers. The Constance Slaughter-Harvey Senior Staff Attorney will assist in the fight against white supremacy and for racial justice.
Slaughter-Harvey, a native of Forest, Mississippi, is a graduate of Hawkins High School and Tougaloo College. While at Tougaloo, she was elected President of the Student Government Association becoming the first female to serve in that capacity. On January 27, 1970, she became the first African American female to receive a law degree from the University of Mississippi.
After graduation, Attorney Slaughter-Harvey joined the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law as a staff attorney and worked there until 1972 when she returned to Forest and established her private law practice. She served as Executive Director of Southern Legal Rights and later became Director of East Mississippi Legal Services. In 1976, she became the first Black female judge in Mississippi’s history.
She has received numerous awards and honors for her work, including the W. E. B. Dubois Award, the Margaret Brent Women Lawyer’s Achievement Award, and multiple NAACP Legal Awards for dedication and commitment to the continuing struggle for legal justice.
