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Prof. Florence Wagman Roisman, William F. Harvey Professor of Law at Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis, was recently elected to two nonprofit boards. She was elected to the national board of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), as well as the board of the Inclusive Communities Project (ICP) in Dallas, TX. Roisman will soon finish her second 3-year term on the board of the ACLU’s Indiana affiliate and will now begin a 3-year term as an elected member of the national board. According to Joan Laskowski, a long-time member of Indiana’s ACLU board, as well as their representative to the national board, “The national Board of the ACLU manages the financial and administrative affairs of the Union and establishes substantive and organizational policies.” Professor Rosiman joins faculty members from several other law schools who serve on the board, including professors from Rutgers, Columbia Law School, Brooklyn Law School, Widener University School of Law, and New York Law School. Laskowski says of Roisman, “The board will be enriched with Florence's passion for liberty and equality."

The mission of the ACLU is to the rights guaranteed in the United States Constitution, including the First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, association and assembly; freedom of the press, and freedom of religion supported by the strict separation of church and state. It also defends the right to equal protection under the law, including equal treatment regardless of race, sex, religion or national origin. Other fundamental rights include the right to due process, or fair treatment by the government whenever the loss of liberty or property is at stake. The right to privacy is also a primary concern of the ACLU, which champions freedom from unwarranted government intrusion into personal and private affairs.

The ICP is a not-for-profit organization that works for the creation and maintenance of thriving racially and economically inclusive communities, expansion of fair and affordable housing opportunities for low income families, and redress for policies and practices that perpetuate the harmful effects of discrimination and segregation.

Professor Roisman is spending the Fall 2006 semester as a J. Skelly Wright Fellow in Law at Yale Law School. Prof. Roisman, the William F. Harvey Professor of Law, has focused her practice, teaching, and writing on low-income housing, homelessness, and housing discrimination and segregation issues.