Southern Poverty Law Center Announces Expansion of Legal Staff

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) announced an expansion of its legal department, including the addition of an attorney and two community advocates to its Alabama office today.

Caren Short joins the SPLC as a staff attorney at the office in Montgomery. Monique Gillum and Michael Granger will each serve as community advocates.

“Over the last several years we have grown tremendously in response to the important civil rights issues our work addresses,” said Mary Bauer, SPLC legal director. “We are honored to have these talented individuals join the Southern Poverty Law Center.” 

As a staff attorney, Short’s work will include representing limited English proficiency students facing discrimination and a wide range of civil rights litigation. Before joining the SPLC, Short served as law clerk for Justice Robert J. Cordy of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. She is a graduate of Howard University School of Law where she was an editor of the Howard Law Journal.

Gillum and Granger will assist with efforts to improve the education and juvenile justice systems in Alabama.

Gillum most recently served as a community advocate for the SPLC’s Jackson, Miss., office. She helped protect youth from abuse by monitoring conditions in the state’s juvenile detention facilities. She also assisted SPLC lawyers in their efforts to reduce the number of incarcerated youth throughout Mississippi. Before joining the SPLC, Granger served as a community organizer for a faith-based organization in New Orleans that sought to reduce violent juvenile crime.

“We are thrilled to welcome Caren and Michael to the SPLC team and Monique to Alabama. Their wealth of knowledge and experience adds considerable firepower to our growing education and juvenile justice reform efforts in Alabama,” said Maria Morris, managing attorney for the SPLC’s Alabama office.