Staff Members
Gary has been a longtime activist advocating for civil liberties and civil rights. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of North Carolina, completed post-doctoral training in politics and public policy at the University of Chicago, and earned a J.D. from Stanford Law School. He has served on the faculties of a number of colleges and universities. In addition, Gary was National Director of Education for the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) and has volunteered with and been on the staff of non-profits working on housing, economic development, employment, and host of other issues. Gary has been Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada since November 1996. During his tenure, he has been appointed to numerous committees including the Clark County Citizen Advisory Panel on Citizen Police Review, the Nevada Supreme Court Task Force on Racial and Economic Bias in the Justice System, the Clark County School Superintendent’s Committee on Diversity, the Las Vegas Urban Chamber’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Race, and the Nevada Supreme Court Commission on Indigent Defense.
Allen Lichtenstein is the General Counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada. He also maintains a private law practice emphasizing First Amendment and other constitutional law. Prior to coming to Las Vegas in 1990, he was an Associate Professor and Deputy Chair of his Department at Brooklyn College. He was also on the faculty of the University of New Mexico, SUNY at Buffalo and University of Georgia, and has also taught at the Greenspun School of Communication at UNLV. Allen has a Masters degree in Journalism from the University of Florida, a PhD in Communication from Florida State University and a JD from the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law.
Lee works on a host of civil liberties issues such as reproductive choice, GLBT equality, First Amendment violations, student rights, police accountability, racial justice, prison conditions, and the criminalization of homelessness. Her work includes lobbying state and local legislative bodies, public education, media, and litigating issues of constitutional concern. Lee is a founding Board member of Forgotten Voice, a newspaper by and for the homeless community of Southern Nevada. Before coming to Nevada, Lee worked for Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, helping to usher in a new era of marriage equality in Massachusetts, and has also interned for Earthjustice and the ACLU of Connecticut. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Lee is a licensed attorney in both Nevada and New York. She lives with her partner in Reno, and is an amateur jewelry maker, avid puzzler, and licensed bartender.
*PHOTO BY BILL HUGHES FOR LAS VEGAS CITY LIFE
Maggie joined the ACLU of Nevada in July of 2007. She came to the ACLU after five years in private practice as a commercial litigator at Bingham McCutchen. Maggie graduated from UCLA’s School of Law and UCLA’s Program in Public Interest Law and Policy in 2002. There she volunteered at legal clinics for the homeless, represented garment workers, and interned at the Inner City Law Center, an organization serving the homeless and residents of slum housing. Before law school, Maggie ran a small, neighborhood-based nonprofit in Minneapolis. In her years in private practice, she also maintained a very active pro bono practice, including providing free legal services to the homeless and litigating impact constitutional cases involving prisoners’ rights and school segregation. Maggie is conversant in Spanish and knows some sign language. She lives in Las Vegas with her dog Romeo and cat Juliet, and takes Romeo hiking as often as she can (when it’s below 120 degrees!).
Born and raised in Southern California, Rebecca moved to northern Nevada in 2001 to attend the University of Nevada, Reno where she studied Economics and International Business. In 2004, Rebecca served as a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholar in Santiago, Chile and followed a rigorous interdisciplinary studies program at Pontificia Universidad Católica, the “Harvard” of South America. Rebecca is a published writer and blogger with additional international experience throughout the Americas and Asia. As a bilingual communications specialist, her professional experience also includes work as a consultant focusing on program development, fundraising, as well as marketing and public relations for local organizations, and previous experience investigating housing discrimination and advocating for equal housing opportunities in northern Nevada. She holds professional certificates in Mediation and Conflict Resolution, Grant Writing, and Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Rebecca loves to dance and is an avid tea drinker.
Judy will join the ACLU of Nevada in September of 2008 as the inaugural Beverly Rogers Fellow and will be working on various civil liberty issues. She is currently a third-year student at the William S. Boyd School of Law where she serves as a Nevada Law Editor on the Nevada Law Journal and as the President of SAGE (Sexual and Gender Equality). She will graduate in May 2008. Judy gained experience with immigration and criminal appellate issues as a student attorney in the Thomas & Mack Legal Clinic. Born in Tennessee and raised in Asheville, North Carolina, Judy also lived in El Paso, Texas before relocating to Las Vegas where she lives with her mother, sister, and partner. She and her partner, Sarah, hope to start a family soon.
Paige started with the ACLU of Nevada in February of 2005. She has worked in both the Reno and Las Vegas offices as an intake coordinator, office assistant, office manager, and program associate. Paige attended Case Western Reserve University, where she started the first ACLU student group on her campus, worked to establish a campus-wide recycling program, and researched and wrote grants for the school’s “green” residential hall complex. Upon graduation, Paige moved to Nevada to be with her partner. Recently, Paige briefly attended law school where she realized it was her life-long dream to be an artist, not attorney. She now works on her art in her free time.
Phil has been with the ACLU of Nevada since July of 2007. He is a 2005 graduate of the University of Mary Washington, where he was involved in various community service organizations, including the campus LGBT Rights group. Phil has also worked as an English teacher in central Mexico. When not working to advance the cause of civil liberties in Nevada, he enjoys travel, reading, hiking, and exploring the Las Vegas valley with his partner, Andrew.
