Since 2003 the Civil Liberties Defense Center has been defending activists involved in progressive social change. In just 12 years we have represented more than 2,000 activists across the country and trained countless more through our “Know Your Rights” trainings.

We have done all of this with just one staff attorney our founder, Lauren Regan. It has been clear for several years that we have needed to increase our legal staff, but as a small grassroots organization it has been a challenge to find the funding needed.

We couldn’t wait any longer to expand our legal team and right now we have an opportunity to permanently fund two new attorney positions. In October we brought on two new staff attorneys, who have both been working with us as law clerks for years.

We are excited to have them on board and we wanted to tell you a little bit more about Amanda & Cooper.

Amanda Schemkes received her J.D. from the Seattle University School of Law and M.S. in Writing & Book Publishing from Portland State University. Amanda decided to become an attorney because of her experiences in the animal liberation movement, through which she saw a need for legal support that is grounded in solidarity and resistance. She has traveled throughout the country to work with grassroots communities that are fighting to protect the earth and its inhabitants.

Cooper Brinson received his J.D. from the University of Oregon. Throughout law school he clerked for the CLDC. Cooper also represented clients in misdemeanor cases through the UO advanced criminal defense clinic (a partnership with Public Defender Services of Lane County, Inc.). Prior to entering the legal profession, he volunteered with a number of environmental and social justice groups.

Cooper & Amanda both went to law school to work at the CLDC upon graduation, and both of them will make incredible additions to our legal team. However, we need your support in order to be able to permanently fund these additional attorney positions.

Will you help us by becoming a sustaining member today?

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The impact of bringing on two more attorneys cannot be overstated; it is a tremendous step in allowing us to grow our capacity to defend more activists, provide more groups with legal support, and provide countless legal trainings for activists ready to take direct action.

If you can’t make a recurring donation please consider a one time gift. The CLDC is a 501c3 nonprofit and all donations are tax-deductible.

Thank you for all your support!