Reginald "Reggie" T. Shuford is a Philadelphia-based lawyer and executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania.

Early life and education

Shuford grew up in

public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is t ...

, the third of five children. Shuford earned high grades at New Hanover High School, leading to a scholarship to attend

Cape Fear Academy Cape Fear Academy is a private, coeducational PK3–12 school in Wilmington, North Carolina that was established on September 11, 1967 as a segregation academy. It was named for Cape Fear Military Academy, an independent school for boys in Wi ...

, where he was the first black graduate in 1984. His classmate Patrick Ballantine later recalled Shuford was "sandwiched by ridicule" and accused of

acting white In the United States, acting white is a pejorative term, usually applied to black people, which refers to a person's perceived betrayal of their culture by assuming the social expectations of white society.

by the black community in Wilmington. Shuford has stated that the

prejudice Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's per ...

he experienced in his early education motivated him to pursue a legal career. Shuford went on to attend the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

and

University of North Carolina School of Law The University of North Carolina School of Law is the law school of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Established in 1845, Carolina Law is among the oldest law schools in the United States and is the oldest law school in North Caro ...

, where he earned his JD and was president of his law class. While attending law school, he was roommates with Jonathan Luna.

Legal career

Throughout his career, Shuford has concentrated on social justice and civil rights. After graduation, he served as a clerk for

Henry Frye Henry E. Frye (born August 1, 1932) is an American judge and politician who served as the first African-American chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Early life and education Henry Frye was born August 1, 1932, in Ellerbe, Richmond ...

, the first black chief justice of the

North Carolina Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina is the state of North Carolina's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consists ...

. Shuford has described Justice Frye as a legal role model who helped Shuford become a better writer. Shuford served as a staff attorney for the ACLU's racial justice program from 1995 to 2010. Shuford represented the ACLU in ''Green v. TSA'' (2004), a challenge to the

No Fly List The No Fly List maintained by the United States federal government's Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) is one of several lists included in algorithmic rulesets used by government agencies and airlines to decide who to allow to board airline flight ...

. In 2011, Shuford was named executive director of the Pennsylvania ACLU. In 2013, he defended a transgender student at a Philadelphia suburban high school who was forced to use his birth name. Shuford oversaw the Pennsylvania ACLU's effort against Pennsylvania's voter ID law and prohibition on same-sex marriage, both of which were overturned. Shuford has also been involved in advocacy against perceived police brutality, including the New Jersey Safe Stop program. In 2019, Shuford was involved in a lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania's bail system.

Awards

In 2016, Pennsylvania State University Law's Black Law Students Association and Penn State's Multicultural Undergraduate Law Association presented Shuford with the Living Legal Legend Award, which recognizes an individual who displays a strong commitment to fight for justice and diversity. In 2009-2010 Shuford was a Wasserstein Fellow at Harvard Law School.

Selected writings

*''Why Affirmative Action Remains Essential in the Age of Obama''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shuford, Reggie University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Living people People from Wilmington, North Carolina University of North Carolina School of Law alumni American Civil Liberties Union people American civil rights lawyers Lawyers from Philadelphia Wasserstein Fellows Year of birth missing (living people)