Constance L. "Connie" Rice (born April 5, 1956) is an American

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

and lawyer. She is also the co-founder and co-director of the

Advancement Project The Advancement Project is a politically liberal American nonprofit organization that focuses on racial justice issues. The organization has a national office in Washington, D.C., as well as a California-specific office based in Los Angeles. Org ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. She has received more than 50 major awards for her work in expanding opportunity and advancing multi-racial democracy. She is a second cousin of former U.S. Secretary of State

Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza "Condi" Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist serving since 2020 as the 8th director of Stanford University's Hoover Institution. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served ...

Biography

Early years

Rice was born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

She earned her undergraduate degree at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 1978. She won the Root Tilden Public Interest Scholarship to

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

, where she earned her

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

in 1984. After law school, Rice served as law clerk to the Honorable Damon J. Keith, judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (in case citations, 6th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * Eastern District of Kentucky * Western District of K ...

, and worked at

Morrison & Foerster Morrison & Foerster LLP (also known as MoFo) is an American multinational law firm headquartered in San Francisco, California, with 17 offices located throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe. History In 1883, Alexander Francis Morrison ...

as a

litigation A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. ...

associate. In 1991, she joined the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and became co-director of LDF’s Los Angeles Office in 1996.NOW. Politics & Economy. Income and Ineqality. Constance Rice: Biography , PBS
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Career

In her non-litigation work in the 1990s, Rice served as counsel to the

Watts Watts is plural for ''watt'', the unit of power. Watts may also refer to: People *Watts (surname), a list of people with the surname Watts Fictional characters *Albie Watts, a fictional character in the British soap opera ''EastEnders'' *Angie ...

gang truce and spearheaded a statewide campaign to save

equal opportunity Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices, or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. For example, the intent of equal ...

programs. Mayors Tom Bradley and

Richard Riordan Richard Joseph Riordan (May 1, 1930 – April 19, 2023) was an American businessman, investor, military commander, philanthropist, and politician. A decorated Korean War veteran and a member of the Republican Party, Riordan served as the 39th ...

appointed Rice to the governing board of Los Angeles’ Department of Water and Power where she served as president and enacted contracting reforms and environmental advances. In 1998, Rice helped lead a successful campaign to place aggressive public school reformers on the governing board for Los Angeles’ public schools. As a litigator, Rice has filed class action civil rights cases redressing police misconduct, race and sex discrimination and unfair

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

transportation Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offence (law), offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incar ...

and

public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

. She filed a landmark case on behalf of the Bus Riders Union that resulted in a mandate that more than $2 billion be spent to improve the Los Angeles bus system. In 1999, Rice launched a coalition lawsuit that won $750 million for new school construction in Los Angeles - money previously slated for less crowded, more affluent suburban school districts. In these and other cases, Rice has led multi-racial coalitions of lawyers and clients to win more than $4 billion of injunctive relief and damages. In 2013, Rice participated in an internal review of the

Los Angeles Police Department The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

terminating the employment of Christopher Dorner. After a lengthy review of the LAPD's process, Rice concluded that Dorner's allegations of racism and bias were unfounded and that the firing was justified. She has also provided commentaries for NPR.

Honors

In 1998, the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' designated her one of twenty-four leaders considered the "most experienced, civic-minded and thoughtful people on the subject of Los Angeles." And in October 2000, California Lawbusiness named her, along with California Governor Gray Davis and Warren Christopher, as one of California’s top 10 most influential lawyers. In May 2003, Rice received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Occidental College. In May 2014, she also received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Pepperdine University.

References

External links

Advancement Project

NPR commentaries

Power Concedes Nothing: a conversation with Connie Rice at The Crawford Family Forum

http://www.powerconcedesnothing.com/ (official)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Constance L. 1956 births Living people 21st-century African-American lawyers 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American lawyers 20th-century African-American women Activists from Washington, D.C. Activists from California American women lawyers American civil rights lawyers American human rights activists Harvard College alumni Lawyers from Los Angeles New York University School of Law alumni People associated with Morrison & Foerster People associated with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund American women civil rights activists