Ready To Take On The Trump Administration: Amol Sinha

Original Jurisdiction

Welcome to Original Jurisdiction, the latest legal publication by me, David Lat. You can learn more about Original Jurisdiction by reading its About page, and you can email me at [e-mail]. This is a reader-supported publication; you can subscribe by clicking here.

Early wishes for a happy Thanksgiving. As the holiday season gets underway, those of us who have so much to be thankful for should think about—and reach out to help—those who are less fortunate. So as I did last year, I’m using my Thanksgiving podcast episode to shine the spotlight on a lawyer who has devoted their entire career to working in the public interest.

Amol Sinha is a nationally recognized civil-rights leader who has dedicated his career to advancing racial justice, holding institutions accountable, promoting and defending rights and liberties, and spearheading impactful work to protect democracy. Since 2017, he has served as executive director of the ACLU of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ)—which has doubled in size, and tripled in terms of its budget, under his leadership.

In our conversation, Amol and I discussed his long career in public-interest law, including his past positions at the Innocence Project and the New York Civil Liberties Union; what he’s most proud of during his time at the ACLU-NJ, including groundbreaking decarceration efforts; his response to critics claiming that the ACLU has abandoned its commitment to free speech in favor of “woke” causes; and, in a very timely discussion in light of the recent election, what he and his ACLU colleagues across the country are focusing on as Donald Trump returns to the White House.

For the past seven years, Amol has been working in my home state of New Jersey. As someone who grew up in and currently lives in the Garden State, I was especially interested in hearing about what he’s been up to—and I hope you will be as well.

Show Notes:

• Amol Sinha bio, ACLU of New Jersey

• Our Roadmap to Protecting Democracy and Holding Trump Accountable, by Amol Sinha for the ACLU-NJ

Prefer reading to listening? For paid subscribers, a transcript of the entire episode appears below.

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Amol Sinha (courtesy photo via the ACLU of New Jersey).

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