Attorney Jason Downs to discuss Upgrading Justice for All April 21
Attorney Jason Downs will join Lewes Public Library’s Distinguished Lecturer Ronald Collins for a live, online discussion titled Upgrading Justice for All at 5 p.m., Thursday, April 21, via Zoom.
Downs has rich experience in civil rights law in both the public and governmental sectors. No stranger to high-profile litigation, he was part of the team that investigated the Freddie Gray shooting, and helped reach a $6.4 million civil settlement between Baltimore officials and Gray’s family.
He also served as lead counsel on the civil rights case regarding the Terrence Sterling shooting in the District of Columbia that settled for $3.5 million. A highly respected civil and criminal litigator, he has fought for some of the most vulnerable people in the justice system.
“In many and varied ways, Jason Downs is the face of a new generation of exceptional lawyers committed to social justice,” said Collins. “He knows the issues and what is at stake, and he is not afraid to make those hard choices that can reverse the arc of injustice.”
The program is part of the library’s Lives in the Law discussion series, which brings together noted figures in the world of law – lawyers, professors, journalists and activists – to join in dialogue about their lives in the law along with how their work bears on some of the most controversial issues of modern times.
Registration is required at lewes.lib.de.us.
Downs is currently a shareholder at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, where he is co-chair of the State Attorneys General practice group. A former chief deputy attorney general for the D.C. Office of the Attorney General, he also serves as trial advocacy workshop faculty at Harvard Law School and is an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland School of Law.
Collins is the former Harold S. Shefelman Scholar at the University of Washington Law School. He served as a Supreme Court fellow for Chief Justice Warren Burger and is editor of the weekly blog First Amendment News. Collins also serves on the editorial board of SCOTUSblog and is the author of books ranging in topics from free speech to artificial intelligence and campaign finance law. He is co-director of the History Book Festival and is the library’s first distinguished lecturer.
