JAMAICAN Deborah Archer, a clinical law professor at New York University School of Law, is the first black president in the 101-year history of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the news outlet Face2Face Africa reported.

Archer was elected virtually by the union’s 69-member board of directors and brings to this position her considerable expertise in civil rights and racial justice, the news outlet said.

ACLU President Archer succeeds Susan Herman, a Brooklyn Law School professor who had been president since 2008. She will act as the chair of the board of directors, overseeing organisational matters and the setting of civil liberties policies.

The fight against racial injustice is expected to be a top priority, however the organisation’s day-to-day operations are managed by its Executive Director Anthony D Romero.

Archer has a long history with ACLU, joining at the beginning of her prolific career as a legal fellow in its Racial Justice Programme, has been a board member since 2009 and began work as their general counsel in 2017.

“After beginning my career as an ACLU fellow, it is an honour to come full circle and now lead the organisation as board president,” said Archer whose parents are Jamaican.

“The ACLU has proven itself as an invaluable voice in the fight for civil rights in the last four years of the Trump era, and we are better positioned than ever to face the work ahead,” Face2Face quoted her.

“This organisation has been part of every important battle for civil liberties during our first century, and we are committed to continuing that legacy as we enter our second. I could not be more excited to get to work,” she added.

Aside from her professorship, Archer is the director of the Civil Rights Clinic at New York University School of Law and a co-faculty director of the Center on Race Inequality and the Law at NYU Law.

She has also served in the capacity of inaugural dean of diversity and inclusion and as associate dean for academic affairs and student engagement at New York Law School. According to Romero, there is no person better suited to launch the ACLU into its next phase than Archer

“There is no one better equipped, who best personifies or is more capable to helm the future battles for civil rights, civil liberties, and systemic equality than Deborah Archer,” he said.

Archer has also worked as assistant counsel at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense and Educational Fund and is a former associate at Simpson Thacher and Bartlett. She served as chair of the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, and on numerous non-profit boards, including the Legal Aid Society and the National Center for Law and Economic Justice.

ACLU said last year was a tumultuous one for everyone, “especially since America dealt with the novel coronavirus amid calls for racial equality”.

The fight against white supremacy and racism last year, which according to the ACLU can only be rivalled by the civil rights era of the 1960s, ultimately culminated in the highest voter turnout in American history.

ACLU filed 413 legal action cases against the Trump Administration, took over 100 legal actions in response to the pandemic, continued its work to protect protestors, and filed more than 37 lawsuits to ensure access to the polls as it celebrated its centennial year, said the organisation.

— Compiled by Desmond Allen and Kevin Wainwright