PHILADELPHIA - The board of directors of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania is pleased to announce that it has selected Reginald (Reggie) T. Shuford, Esq., as its new executive director. He assumes his duties today.
"The ACLU of Pennsylvania has always been strong, but with Reggie Shuford's arrival, we take a leap forward and will make even larger strides in our work to preserve and protect equal freedoms for all Americans," said Kim Watterson, president of the ACLU of Pennsylvania board of directors. "We are so very lucky to have Reggie joining us. He has spent a lifetime working for 'liberty and justice for all.' We will greatly benefit as he brings his experience, passion, insights, energy and leadership to our organization."
Shuford most recently served as the director of law and policy at the Equal Justice Society (EJS), a national strategy group heightening consciousness on race in the law and popular discourse. Prior to EJS, he served as senior staff counsel in the national ACLU's Racial Justice Program. During his tenure there (1995 to 2010), Shuford helped to pioneer legal challenges to racial profiling practices nationwide. He was the ACLU's chief litigator in challenges to racial profiling, leading national litigation efforts and consulting with ACLU state affiliates and others in cases of "driving while black or brown," airport profiling, and profiling related to the war on terror.
"I am beyond excited to be joining the ACLU of Pennsylvania, whose cutting-edge work has received national acclaim. That work is as vital as ever, and I welcome the opportunity to be part of such a top-notch team as we strive to protect the civil liberties of all Pennsylvanians," said Shuford.
Shuford is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law in Chapel Hill, where he was his graduating class president. He has been a Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow at Harvard Law School and is the recent recipient of the University of North Carolina School of Law's Distinguished Alumnus Award. He is a 2009 graduate of the Georgetown Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate Program.
Shuford succeeds Nancy Hopkins, who recently retired as the ACLU-PA's executive director after six years in the position.
An affiliate of the national ACLU, the ACLU of Pennsylvania has 18,000 members across the state, with 17 staff members and offices in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and Philadelphia.