GEORGE W. CROCKETT, JR. COMMUNITY LAW SCHOOL

The George W. Crockett, Jr. Community Law School is a public education program. Classes are taught by Attorneys, Judges, Civil Rights Advocates, and Community Leaders. This Winter/Spring semester is sponsored by the Detroit Branch NAACP, and the Wolverine Bar Association, in conjunction with Legal Aid and Defenders Association.

The late George W. Crockett, Jr. will be remembered by Detroiters asa legendary civil rights leader, a brilliant attorney, and outstanding constitutional scholar.

Crockett defended labor unionists and civil rights activists when such causes were unpopular. He represented the late Coleman A. Young, when Young was called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

Crockett became one of the first African American judges to sit on Recorder's Court. When Detroit Police Officers randomly arrested 142 people after the infamous New Bethel Church incident, Crockett ruled they could not be held indefinitely without probable cause, and released most of them.

Crockett was elected to represent the old 13th Congressional District, where he became one of the House's foremost experts on foreign affairs and the U.S. Constitution. In Congress, he introduced the Mandela Freedom Act, which eventually passed. He also sued President Ronald Reagan under the War Power Act for unauthorized military actions in El Salvador.