Georgetown law prof is hired as ACLU's national legal director
Georgetown law professor David Cole has a new job as national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Cole will oversee the ACLU’s Supreme Court practice and manage the work of nearly 300 staff attorneys at the ACLU, according to a press release. He takes over the new job in January, the National Law Journal (sub. req.) reports.
Cole tells the National Law Journal he will continue teaching at Georgetown in the fall and will split his time between the ACLU’s headquarters in New York and its offices in Washington, D.C.
Cole’s new position creates recusal issues for his wife, Circuit Judge Nina Pillard of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the National Law Journal points out. Cole told the publication that his wife has already been recusing herself in cases involving the ACLU or its affiliates.
Cole has litigated several Supreme Court cases, including cases that extended First Amendment protection to flag burning and challenged content restrictions on funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.
Cole replaces Steven Shapiro, who was national legal director for 25 years.
