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The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is based in Montgomery, Alabama, in the South of the US. It was started in 1971 by Morris Dees and Joe Levin as a civil rights law firm. It is known for its tolerance education programs, its legal victories against white supremacist groups, its tracking of hate groups, and its sponsorship of the Maya Lin-designed Civil Rights Memorial. The Center publishes an in-depth analysis of political extremism and bias crimes in the United States in the quarterly Intelligence Report.

History

The first case the Center took on forced the local YMCA to racially integrate their athletic offerings. In 1979 the Center brought its first case against the Klu Klux Klan. This was the first of many cases against the Klan. In 1983, the Klan responded by burning down the Center's offices. Several other attempts to bomb the center and kill Morris Dees have been thwarted.

Controversy

Because of its work, it is not surprising that the SPLC is controversial. Some criticisms have focused on its fundraising practices. Critics cite a 1996 USA Today article that asserts that the Southern Poverty Law Center is "the nation's richest civil rights organization" with $68 million in assets at the time. Critics also cite an a 2003 article in the Fairfax (VA) Journal containing an assertiion that 89 percent of income was spent on fundraising and administrative costs.

In 1994 The Montgomery Advertiser published an investigative series revealing alleged financial mismanagement, poor management practices, misleading fundraising, and institutionalized racism at the Center. Former black employees asserted that the Center was run like "a plantation" and complained of discrimination by white supervisors. The Center threatened legal action against the newspaper during the publication of the series, and lobbied against its consideration for journalism awards. However, the investigative series was a finalist for a 1995 Pulitzer Prize.

The Center has asserted that these are attempts to smear its reputation, and dismisses these claims as being brought forward by 'extremist' groups.

External links from the SPLC

• Southern Poverty Law Center official site
• SPLC Internet-based activism project - Tolerance.org

External links containing criticisms of SPLC

• 'The Church of Morris Dees' - A critical look at the SPLC and its founder from Harper's Magazine, republished in the Free Republic
• Harvard University's Nieman Foundation for Journalism- Panel discussion with the investigative reporter/editor who helped covered the SPLC for The Montgomery Advertiser