Lawyer, Activist, Judge: Fighting for Civil and Voting Rights in Mississippi and Illinois is the story of Martha A. Mills, who worked to bring justice to a place where injustice thrived. In this compelling and fascinating account, Mills describes her journey to Mississippi as a young civil rights lawyer in the late 1960s after joining the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. She boldly challenged the racial status quo and racial barriers in the south, risking her personal safety in the process. Yet she looked racist judges, lawyers, lawmen, and Ku Kluxers in the eye—never backing down, in court or out. Mills’s work as a civil rights activist continued through to her work as a judge in Cook County, Illinois.

The history and early struggles under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 are of crucial importance to those who will today litigate renewed attempts to limit the ability of persons of various classes to vote, blacks, minorities, the poor, the young, and the poorly educated. The book takes a look at some major cases, including a million dollar verdict against the Ku Klux Klan, milestone Supreme Court cases involving the 1871 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and more.