A Season for Justice: The Life & Times of Civil Rights Lawyer Morris Dees

by Morris Dees, Steve Fiffer (Contributor)

The grandson of a Klansman, who engineered the landmark civil suit that bankrupted the Ku Klux Klan, recounts the story of his battles against racism in the New South.

Genres: Memoir, Race, Biography, Nonfiction, Social Justice, Anti Racist, Legal

368 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1991

About the author

Co-founder and chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and former direct mail marketeer for book publishing.

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Morris Dees is my hero. This is a good book the understand the KKK.

[Aaron Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a bit ashamed to confess this, but it took me 23 years to read this book. That’s right, 23 YEARS, but not because it isn’t good or because I’m a reeaaally slow reader.

I actually met the great Morris Dees in 1997 when I was working for two other amazing people, Dr. Bill and Kathy Magee, founders of Operation Smile. Mr. Dees signed my book, and I knew instantly it was priceless and something to hold onto, but for some reason I put it aside and didn’t read it.

Twenty three years later, having lived in three different states and moved countless times, inspired to read, read, read by the Coronavirus, Black Lives Matter, and the uncertainty of our lives right now, I finally read it. Maybe I wasn’t ready or mature enough to read it in 1997.

Thankfully, this book is now officially part of me and will stay in my heart for my remaining years. It is a powerful memoir of a man who fought for what was right. What is right. He fought tirelessly and bravely against the KKK, despite living many years as a target, constantly receiving death threats. Making positive change in the world isn’t easy.

A Season for Justice is as relevant today as when it was first published, maybe MORE relevant. There is still work to be done. Black lives do, indeed, matter. This is a powerful book that will surely inform and inspire you!

[Judy Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an old but still riveting book about the founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center and Klanwatch. Dees has quite an ego but the cases are fascinating and his 1990 predictions about the troubling rise of white-supremacist groups proved chillingly true. It’s a shame his well-earned reputation for fighting racists was tarnished at the end of his career, but once again his ego brought him down.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A coworker gave me this book years ago. As a lawyer, I do love lawyer stories. As a Southerner, I do find the civil rights struggle, the one I was born too late to experience first hand, endlessly fascinating. This is a story we should all hear.

[Brian White]

Morris Dees is really, really sold on himself. He has done some good work, but really is worried about people knowing it so that they can be in awe. Compare and contrast Dees with Stephen Bright or Brian Stephenson.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morris Dees' is a hero to many: being a voice for the voiceless. This book is thrilling and inspiring to read

[Peejay(Pamela) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating autobiography of Morris Dees, founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Anyone interested in civil rights litigation will find this a worthwhile read.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating account of how the legal system was used to bring down the Ku Klux Klan, and the courage it took from one man - Morris Dees.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a privilege to have read this book. Sometimes I had a hard time following the names of everyone being tried, but by the end I had nothing but admiration for Morris Dees.

[Gaby Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

How the Southern Poverty Law Center got started and how it took on the KKK