This is one in a series of profiles marking the 60th anniversary of the ACLU of Kentucky’s founding. Each week through December 2015 we will highlight the story of one member, client, case, board or staff member that has been an integral part of our organization’s rich history.
Louis Lusky
“He protected the best tradition of Americanism.” -Cary Robertson on Louis Lusky, November 1956.
Before he became known as a pioneer in civil rights law, and before his more than 20 years teaching at Columbia Law School, Louisville native Louis Lusky was working on some of the Kentucky Civil Liberty Union’s (now ACLU of Kentucky) earliest cases.
In 1954, Louisvillian Carl Braden was charged with sedition after calling out the local police for failing to curtail the violence that arose from a black man owning property (bought for him by Braden) in an all-white neighborhood. While the task of defending a man accused of communist associations scared off much of the talent and resources that could have assisted Braden’s case, Lusky came to his defense at the urging of the KCLU and national ACLU.
After failing to get the Braden sedition indictment thrown out, Lusky continued to work for Braden though his appeal. Braden was poor, yet his court fees were exceptionally high. In fact his appeal bond was the highest ever set in Kentucky, at that time. Lusky was able to reduce the court fees, but not the bond, and continued to try to fund Braden by reaching out to conservative sources. Lusky was unsuccessful, and Braden’s conviction was eventually thrown out as a result of a Supreme Court decision on another case. After defending Braden in such a high profile case, suspicion rose about Lusky; the public seemed to believe that there must be something wrong with a man who took such an unpopular case for so little money, and thus, he couldn’t be trusted with normal business. Despite the damage done to his practice, Lusky continued to work for the ACLU-KY.
One such case is when Lusky defended African American Sam Thompson, a man arrested and fined for loitering, or “shuffling,” in a Louisville café without any evidence for the charge. The case received front page coverage in the March 22, 1960 edition of the New York Times when the Supreme Court set aside two $10 fines. The case ended up at the Supreme Court because Lusky found the fines were too small to be reviewed by any state court. Justices found that Thompson had been denied his right to due process guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. After working on the case for over 850 hours, Lusky was able to help Thompson walk the streets of Louisville without the constant worry of mistreatment by police. Doing all of this work for a measly $85.00, Lusky embodied the spirit of the ACLU-KY through his unwavering commitment and sense of social justice.
Lusky left Louisville in 1963 to join the faculty of Columbia University Law School. He retired in 1986. He died in 2001.