ACLU Announces Acting Director Of Washington Legislative Office

Michael Macleod-Ball Brings Diverse Skills From Public And Private Sectors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (202) 675-2312 or media@dcaclu.org

WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union today announced that Michael Macleod-Ball will be serving as the Acting Director of the Washington Legislative Office as the organization searches for a new Legislative Director. As Acting Director, Macleod-Ball will be the organization’s top lobbyist and lead the ACLU’s legislative team in influencing lawmakers and the executive branch to protect civil liberties.

“Michael’s wide range of legal, civil liberties and legislative experience in both the public and private sectors makes him a well-suited candidate to lead our outstanding legislative staff during this transition period,” said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. “We are grateful to him for filling this role during these vibrant and critical times for civil liberties.”

In September 2007, Macleod-Ball joined the ACLU Washington Legislative Office as the Chief Legislative and Policy Counsel for the organization, where he managed a team of policy counsels and lobbyists who worked with Congress and the White House on a non-partisan basis to preserve and protect Americans’ civil liberties and constitutional rights. Prior to his work at the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, Macleod-Ball provided legal advice and advocacy leadership for 25 years in New England and Alaska, including serving as Executive Director of the ACLU of Alaska, where he helped form Alaska’s first statewide LGBT advocacy organization, challenged unfair voting laws and conducted the first known statewide survey of sex education.

“I am privileged to be leading the Washington Legislative Office during these dynamic and busy times,” said Macleod-Ball. “I look forward to leading the fight in Washington and pushing Congress and the administration to protect Americans’ civil liberties, from immigration reform to demanding accountability for torture.”

Prior to joining the ACLU of Alaska, Macleod-Ball lived in Maine for over 15 years, where he practiced law and held leading roles in the political community. He served on two presidential campaigns, served as a delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention and was a partner at one of Maine’s largest law firms, Verill Dana, before founding Bergen & Parkinson in 1998. He has also argued important court cases on privacy and federal regulatory authority, and has spoken to groups across the country on ACLU legislative and regulatory priorities.

Macleod-Ball graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in psychology, and graduated cum laude from Boston’s Suffolk University Law School, where he served as a law review editor and wrote on religious liberty issues.