Sherrilyn ifill biography examples

Education

Juris Doctor (J.D.)

Law
New York University
1987

Bachelor of Arts (A.B.)

English
Vassar College
1984

Accomplishments

2024 Freedom Award

The Freedom Award is presented by the National Civil Rights Museum and pays tribute to individuals who have shown unwavering commitment to promoting justice and equality.

2023 American Constitution Society Lifetime Achievement Award

The Lifetime Achievement Award is one of ACS’s most prestigious awards, given in recognition of a lifelong dedication to realizing the promise of the U.S.

Constitution and defending the rights of all Americans.

2023 Brandeis Medal

The Brandeis Medal is awarded to individuals whose lives reflect United States Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis' commitment to the ideals of individual liberty, concern for the disadvantaged and public service.

2023 Fordham-Stein Prize

Prize recipients exemplify outstanding professional conduct; promote the advancement of justice; and bring credit to the profession by emphasizing in the public mind the contributions of lawyers to our society and to our democratic system of government.

2023 The Gold Medal from the New York State Bar Association

The Gold Medal is awarded each year to a lawyer “whose qualifications include outstanding legal accomplishments, an active interest in and positive influence upon the profession, and constructive contributions in civic and community matters.”

2022 Thurgood Marshall Award

The award is presented by the American Bar Association to members of the legal profession who have dedicated their careers to the advancement of civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights in the United States.

2021 TIME 100 Most Influential People

Time 100 is a list of the top 100 most influential people, assembled by the American news magazine Time.

2019 Academy of Arts & Sciences Fellow

American Academy of Arts and Sciences honors excellence and convenes leaders from every field of human endeavor to examine new ideas, address issues of importance to the nation and the world, and work together “to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people.”

Publications and Presentations

Trump's Attack on Lawyers and Law Firms Takes a Page Out of the Southern 1950s Playbook

Trump's Attack on Lawyers and Law Firms Takes a Page Out of the Southern 1950s Playbook

I’m a Seasoned Litigator.

Trump’s attempt to overturn the election began well before January 6^th  . She most recently served as a Senior Fellow at the Ford Foundation. Named to the list in 2021, Ifill’s extraordinary efforts in the fight against systemic racial injustice, along with her persistent messaging to voters and policymakers on what it takes to preserve American democracy, placed her alongside Alexei Navalny, Kamala Harris, Billie Eilish, and ninety-six others whose work is changing the world.

Ifill started her career following in the path of American icons Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley by litigating voting rights cases on behalf of minority citizens whose civil rights had been violated.

Sam Alito’s Recent Questions Have Made Me Cringe.

Lawyers Enabled Trump’s Worst Abuses

Lawyers Enabled Trump’s Worst Abuses

The legal profession must reckon with its complicity in Trump’s attack on democracy.

Why are U.S. courts afraid of the 14th Amendment? From 2013-2022, she served as the President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.

(LDF), the nation’s premier civil rights law organization fighting for racial justice and equality. “It’s consistent with this Court’s refusal to be moved from the narrative that we are somehow impervious to the politics of what’s happening around us . A true multi-racial democracy centered around equality and justice. During her tenure the organization grew significantly in staffing and endowment and bolstered its position as a crucial player in the fight for social justice and equal opportunity.

She is currently completing a new book about race and the current crisis in American democracy entitled, “Is This America?” which will be published by Penguin Press. 

Ifill is a graduate of Vassar College and earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law. She is the recipient of numerous honorary doctorates and many of the most prestigious medals in the legal profession including, the Radcliffe Medal, the Brandeis Medal, the Thurgood Marshall Award from the American Bar Association, and The Gold Medal from the New York State Bar Association.

Because it’s radical.

Why are U.S. courts afraid of the 14th Amendment? I do not need to see it in my lifetime to know that it can happen. Ifill’s voice and analysis played a prominent role in shaping our national conversation about race and civil rights during a tumultuous period of racial reckoning in our country. Her 2008 book “On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21st Century,” was highly acclaimed, and is credited with laying the foundation for contemporary conversations about lynching and reconciliation.

Ifill graduated from Vassar College with a B.A.

in English and earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law. She is the recipient of numerous honorary doctorates and was named by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the world in 2021. In this Article, the Author advocates racial diversity among judges as a critical means of
achieving cultural pluralism in judicial decision-making.