S. Lee Merritt (born Stacy Sylvester Lee Merritt) is an American

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

yer and activist, most known for his work on racial justice issues. On March 20, 2021, Merritt announced on Twitter his proposal to run for Texas attorney general, saying "Texas deserves an attorney general that will fight for the constitutional rights of all citizens." He suspended his campaign on March 10, 2022, and endorsed Rochelle Mercedes Garza as the Democratic candidate.

Early life and education

Merritt was born on February 1, 1983 in

South Central Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of Downtown Los Angeles, downtown. It is de ...

and as a child moved to north

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Merritt graduated ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' from

Morehouse College Morehouse College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and attended

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

’s James Beasley School of Law, graduating in 2012. While at Temple, Merritt participated in the trial advocacy program.

Career

Following graduation from Morehouse College, Merritt taught in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a City (New Jersey), city in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan region. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828.Snyder, John P''The Story of ...

through the

Teach for America Teach For America (TFA) is an American nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to "enlist, develop, and mobilize as many as possible of our nation's most promising future leaders to grow and strengthen the movement for educational excell ...

program. After graduating from

, Merritt began his career at The Cochran Firm in their

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

office and at McEldrew Young. Merritt founded the Merritt Law Firm, which represents victims of

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...

, official corruption, corporate discrimination, and

hate crimes Hate crime (also known as bias crime) in criminal law involves a standard offence (such as an assault, murder) with an added element of bias against a victim (individual or group of individuals) because of their Physical appearance#Physiological ...

. Based in Philadelphia, the firm takes on

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 ...

cases nationwide.

Deandre Harris

On August 12, 2017, Deandre Harris was beaten in a

parking garage A multistorey car park (Commonwealth English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistorey, parking building, parking structure, parkade (Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck, or indoor parking, is a building designed fo ...

by six men following a "Unite the Right" rally in

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the county seat, seat of government of Albemarle County, Virginia, Albemarle County, which surrounds the ...

; Merritt served as Harris' attorney in the case.

Jordan Edwards

On April 29, 2017, Jordan Edwards, a 15-year-old African American male, was fatally shot in the back of the head by police officer Roy Oliver in

Balch Springs, Texas Balch Springs ( , ) is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. It is an inner-ring suburb of Dallas and part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its population was 23,728 at the 2010 census, and 25,007 at 2019's census estimates. Histo ...

, while riding in the passenger's seat of a vehicle leaving a house party. Merritt served as the Edwards' family attorney.

Marlin Gipson

Merritt represented 20-year-old Marlin Gipson after he was arrested then charged for failing to identify himself and resisting arrest. Gipson was distributing business cards for his lawn care service, but was misidentified as the suspect in a local string of burglaries.

Atatiana Jefferson

Atatiana Jefferson was fatally shot in her home by a police officer in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, United States, in the early morning of October 12, 2019. Merritt served as the family's attorney in this case.

Ahmaud Arbery

Merritt is currently serving as the lawyer for the family of Ahmaud Arbery, who was jogging through

Brunswick, Georgia Brunswick ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Glynn County, Georgia, Glynn County in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As the primary urban and economic center of the lower southeast portion of Georgia, it is the second-larges ...

, on February 23, 2020, and murdered by two white men who claimed Arbery looked like a suspect in a string of local burglaries. Alongside the lawyers for the families of

George Floyd George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd had used a counterfeit tw ...

and

Breonna Taylor Breonna Taylor (June 5, 1993 – March 13, 2020) was an African-American woman who Killing of Breonna Taylor, was shot and killed while unarmed in her Louisville, Kentucky home by three police officers who entered under the auspices of a No-kn ...

, Merritt plans to bring the case to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Activism

In 2017, Merritt appeared before the

National Black Caucus of State Legislators The National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) is an American political organization composed of African Americans elected to state legislatures in the United States and its territories. Background NBCSL was founded in 1977 after a gro ...

41st Annual Conference on a Town Hall panel to discuss

mass incarceration Incarceration in the United States is one of the primary means of punishment for crime in the United States. In 2021, over five million people were under supervision by the criminal justice system, with nearly two million people incarcerated ...

. “Mass incarceration is a problem that must be addressed otherwise we become a part of the problem due to inaction,” said Merritt in the panel. Following the murders of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd in 2020, Merritt made various television appearances alongside Arbery's mother to call attention to the broad issues of racial bias in policing and American society at large. On March 20, 2021, Merritt announced on Twitter his proposal to run for Texas attorney general, saying "Texas deserves an attorney general that will fight for the constitutional rights of all citizens." He suspended his campaign on March 10, 2022, and endorsed

Rochelle Garza Rochelle Mercedes Garza (born 1984/1985) is an American attorney from Brownsville, Texas, who previously served as one of the five Commissioners on the United States Commission on Civil Rights. She is a civil rights attorney who practices famil ...

as the Democratic Party candidate. Garza was defeated in the general election.

Awards and recognition

In 2017, Merritt was No. 8 on The Root 100, a list honoring the top 10 most influential African Americans in the country ages 18 to 45. In his biography, Merritt is described as an "emerging as a new leader in the fight for racial justice, standing on the front lines of making sure people know that black lives matter."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merritt, Lee African-American activists 21st-century African-American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers American civil rights lawyers Living people Morehouse College alumni People from Florida Activists from Los Angeles Lawyers from Los Angeles Temple University alumni Texas Democrats 1983 births