Staff Attorney, Voting Rights

Staff Attorney, Voting Rights Apply Overview Position Type Full Time Category Advocacy Apply About the Position LOCATION Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Kern DEPARTMENT Advocacy DEADLINE DATE Open until filled. ABOUT THE ACLU FOUNDATION OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Founded in 1923, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California (“ACLU SoCal”) has been at the forefront of many major efforts to protect civil liberties, civil rights, and equal justice in California. Principled and nonpartisan, ACLU SoCal has offices in Los Angeles, the Inland Empire (San Bernardino), and Kern County (Bakersfield). ACLU SoCal tackles a vast array of issues, including the criminal legal system, police practices, First Amendment rights, voting rights, gender equity, reproductive justice, LGBTQ rights, immigrants’ rights, education equity, and economic justice. POSITION OVERVIEW ACLU SoCal’s Advocacy Department seeks a Staff Attorney for the Voting Rights project. The Staff Attorney will help develop and litigate state and federal cases; help create and implement legislative and policy advocacy campaigns that protect and expand voting rights and ballot access; engage in public education; and provide technical assistance to coalitions, community partners, government officials, and government bodies. The Staff Attorney will advocate the full range of voting rights issues on which the ACLU SoCal engages. Litigation, advocacy, and public education campaigns might include: responding to emerging threats to representation for voters of color in the absence of federal Voting Rights Act protections; protecting and strengthening state and local voting rights protections, including the California Voting Rights Act and other pro-voter policies; responding to election interference and abuses of governmental power, including unlawful ballot seizures, attempts to access unredacted voter files, and restrictive election measures such as local voter ID laws; advancing election protection efforts; and providing legal support to ensure a full and accurate 2030 Census count, including by defending against efforts to exclude immigrant communities from the count. Although the focus will be to protect and advance voting rights, the Staff Attorney may also work on other issues such as open government and protecting and expanding freedoms of speech, association, and religion. The Staff Attorney will report to a Senior Voting Rights Staff Attorney and the director of the ACLU SoCal First Amendment and Democracy Project and will work also within the ACLU statewide Democracy, Speech, and Technology team. The Staff Attorney will also work with other attorneys, policy advocates and organizers from other ACLU SoCal Projects as needed and work collaboratively with the Communications Department on campaigns. Travel throughout the Southern California region and occasional trips to Sacramento may be required. We recognize that ACLU SoCal’s integrated advocacy approach in which advocacy staff utilize diverse tactics to advance our goals, including litigating, drafting legislation, and lobbying elected officials, working in coalition with grassroots organizations, and engaging in public education campaigns including report writing and issue-based trainings, is not typical. While candidates must meet the minimum qualifications, we do not expect candidates to have experience performing the entire range of tasks that would comprise the job responsibilities for this position. We encourage interested candidates to consider the transferable skills that they have developed, particularly those related to written and oral communication, collective action, and advocacy on behalf of others—and assess whether they are willing to gain experience with new job functions—when applying to this position. This is a full-time, exempt bargaining unit position in the National Organization of Legal Services Workers union. Qualifications Education and Experience The ACLU SoCal anticipates hiring an attorney with approximately 3-8 years of experience for this position and will consider all applicants with approximately that level of experience with a demonstrated commitment to civil and human rights, racial justice, and strong advocacy and litigation skills. The ideal candidate will be a hard-working leader with a proven record of accomplishments working with, advocating with, and/or organizing with legal-system-involved and legal-system-impacted individuals, other marginalized populations, and community-based organizations. Required Admitted to practice law in the state of California or willingness to promptly take the California bar exam. Excellent research, writing, analytic, and speaking skills. Ability to develop and litigate impact cases. Ability to work in diverse coalitions and develop and implement advocacy campaigns. Demonstrated ability to participate in, create, and sustain inclusive and engaging spaces for all. Demonstrated ability to lead projects, build strong relationships, and work well in collaboration with others. A deep commitment to the cause of civil liberties and civil rights, in particular, voting rights issues. Travel within Southern California, as well as occasionally to other parts of the state. Extremely strong project and time management skills, including a high level of organization, attention to detail and follow-through, while balancing and prioritizing multiple activities and responsibilities. Willingness to work occasional weekend and evening hours, as needed. Ability to supervise interns. Desired Familiarity working in voting rights litigation and/or policy advocacy. A demonstrated commitment and track record of doing intersectional advocacy. Experience working effectively with coalitions and building coalitions. Experience planning and facilitating workshops, trainings, meetings, and other community events. Spanish language fluency. Racial Equity Competencies Required Understanding, Applying, and Working for Racial Equity · Demonstrate commitment to building or deepening understanding of racial equity: o Core terms and concepts such as structural racism, white privilege, and anti-Blackness. o The role that racial inequity has played and continues to play in our society. o How race impacts supervisory relationships, team dynamics, and organizational culture. o Personal/implicit/unconscious bias. · Consistently assess structural implications and racially disproportionate impacts of policies, activities, and decisions within the context of their job responsibilities; race/ethnicity, intersection of race/ethnicity, gender, identity, and/or sexual orientation. · Consistently adhere to organization’s racial equity policies and procedures, including those that relate to hiring, retention, and promotion. · Consistently identify and disrupt ways in which bias plays out in work and/or team. COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS The salary range for this position is $86,474 – $113,254 based on year of law school graduation. Benefits include medical, vision, and dental insurance for staff members and their eligible dependents; life and long-term, short-term disability insurance; 401(k) plan with employer match; ample vacation and sick leave and twenty-two paid holidays. TO APPLY Please upload a current resume and a cover letter in order to be considered. This position will remain open until filled. The ACLU of Southern California is committed to developing a culture of diversity, equity, respect, and inclusion and to striving to maintain a workforce that reflects the communities that we serve. The ACLU SoCal is an equal opportunity employer that does not unlawfully discriminate against employees or applicants on the basis of any status or condition protected by applicable law. We encourage all qualified individuals to apply and value people of all races, genders (including gender identity or expression), sexual orientations, disabilities, citizenships, ages, religions, national origins and who have different marital statuses, family caregiving responsibilities, lived experiences with the criminal justice systems, and genetic information. The ACLU SoCal does not tolerate discrimination or harassment on the basis of any of these characteristics.