A Continuing Struggle for Civil Rights: From Thurgood Marshall's Influence to Today's New Jersey Law Against Discrimination

Edward H. Haas, Esq., M.S.W. `95, a deputy attorney general in the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety’s Division on Civil Rights, (DCR) speaks on the unique influence of United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall on civil rights law through the eyes of a New Jersey practitioner working to enforce the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD). Marshall, whom Mr. Haas has described as “an indispensable voice in the struggle for the civil rights of people with disabilities” and who “fought in the trenches for better rights.”

Now, Haas (who also has cerebral palsy) is in the trenches, helping DCR fulfill it’s mission of enforcing the LAD and eradicating illegal discrimination in New Jersey. Interestingly, the New Jersey law has one of the most comprehensive lists of protected classes among all the 50 states: Race, Creed (Religion), Color, National Origin, Ancestry, Age, Marital Status, Sexual Orientation, Domestic Partnership Status, Civil Union Status, Gender Identity and Expression, Sex, Atypical Hereditary Cellular or Blood Trait, Genetic information, Liability for Service in the Armed Forces, Nationality, Disability, Familial Status, and/or Source of Lawful Income for Rent or Mortgage Payments

From Thurgood Marshall’s Influence to Today’s New Jersey Law Against Discrimination:
A continuing struggle for civil rights

Tuesday, November 4, 2014
7:00 p.m.
Kirby 104

Dinner at 5:30 p.m.
Students with a keen interest in this topic and/or anti-discrimination law may request to join a small dinner meeting prior to the speaker's presentation. If you are interested, please contact Dean Karen Clemence (clemenck@lafayette.edu)

Edward Haas Disclaimer Statement:

“The statements I make in any lecture, interview, or discussion, which is or is not recorded, either manually or by any electronic means,at Lafayette College in Easton Pennsylvania, on or about November 4, 2014, are my personal views and opinions and are not in any way intended to be given in my official capacity as a Deputy Attorney General for the State of New Jersey. The statements do not reflect the views or policies of the Administration of the Governor of New Jersey, the Office of the Attorney General, the Department of Law and Public Safety, or any subdivision thereof.”