FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Felecia Z. Pettway
Director of Development
Legal Services Alabama
Post Office Box 20787
Montgomery, AL 36120
(334) 223-0232 EXT 3089
fpettway@alsp.org
Montgomery, AL – (10/4/19) – Legal Services Alabama (LSA) will honor former LSA Attorneys Ishmael Jaffree and Ronnie Williams, who were involved in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court Case, Wallace v Jaffree (1985), during a special reception on Oct. 10, 2019. As part of Alabama’s Bicentennial Celebration, LSA will showcase the work of Jaffree and Williams from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. inside the Tuscaloosa Public Library, located at 1801 Jack Warner Parkway.
The historic event is part of the Alabama Bicentennial Commission’s traveling exhibit, “Alabama Justice: The Cases and Faces that Changed a Nation,” which makes a stop in Tuscaloosa Sept. 20 through Oct. 24. Featuring LSA volunteer Attorney Jaffree, and former LSA Attorney Williams, who also served as Jaffree’s attorney at the time, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 4, 1985 that an Alabama statute that authorized one-minute period of silence in all public schools for “meditation or voluntary prayer” violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause.
LSA Executive Director Guy Lescault stated, “As we celebrate LSA’s 15th Anniversary, we should be mindful of the contributions of early legal aid lawyers Ishmael Jaffree and Ronnie Williams, who in 1985 brought the landmark Wallace V Jaffree Case,” Lescault said. “LSA is proud to be recognized in the Alabama Justice Exhibit in celebration of the state’s 200th Anniversary.”
LSA Development Director Felecia Z. Pettway, who will host the reception, stated the work highlighted in the exhibit is “impactful.”
“We are excited to showcase a few of the many talented attorneys that have worked for Legal Services Alabama,” Pettway said. “They have impacted our communities, our state and our country, by fighting for causes that have impacted this nation. It is also important to embrace the efforts of public interest work and understand the role public interest attorneys have made upon our communities. We congratulate these attorneys on the work they have done and are excited that their work is recognized in such a momentous celebration.”
This exhibit is made possible by sponsorships from the Alabama Bicentennial Commission, Auburn University, Alabama Department of Archives & History, Alabama Humanities Foundation and the Alabama Bench and Bar Historical Society. The exhibit will make its final stop in Tuskegee, AL on Oct. 24 through Dec. 30 inside the George Washington Carver Museum.
This event is free and open to the public. To learn more about the reception, please contact Felecia Pettway at fpettway@alsp.org or call (334) 223-0232.
