ABA releases book about Martha Mills

 In a new book release from the American Bar Association, “Lawyer, Activist, Judge: Fighting for Civil and Voting Rights in Mississippi and Illinois,” trailblazing trial lawyer Martha A. Mills recounts her journey in a world of bigotry, bias and exclusion.

Mills devoted her life to breaking down barriers. Her story begins with childhood recollections of racism and she transports the reader along on her trek from the staid offices of a Wall Street law firm, where Mills made history as its first woman attorney, to the front lines of the civil rights battle in the Deep South in the mid-1960s, when she joined the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

The book examines Mills’ major cases, including a million dollar verdict against the Ku Klux Klan, and milestone U.S. Supreme Court cases involving the 1871 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. On the 50th anniversary of that landmark legislation, Mills’ timely insight provides an impetus for those who are fighting renewed attempts to limit voting rights for minorities, the poor, the young and the poorly educated. As she puts it, “Everyone should be willing, indeed feel obligated, to work on the concerns facing our communities, states, nation and globe.”

The book was sponsored by the ABA Section of Litigation.

“Lawyer, Activist, Judge: Fighting for Civil and Voting Rights in Mississippi and Illinois” costs $59.95 and can be ordered by calling 800-285-2221 or visiting http://ambar.org/lawyeractivist.