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Who were Maurice and Jane Sugar?
Maurice and Jane Sugar were a husband and wife team who shared a lifelong dedication to social justice causes. Through legal advocacy and grassroots activism, they were prominent figures in the early labor movement and in the formation of the National Lawyers Guild. As part of their legacy, they endowed a foundation that provided the primary funds for Sugar Law's first years.
Read more about the Sugars in the book "Maurice Sugar: Law, Labor, and the Left in Detroit, 1912-1950," available for purchase here.
The Maurice and Jane Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice is a national non-profit, public-interest law center.
We provide legal advocacy, representation, education and technical support to empower community groups, workers' rights groups and individuals seeking systemic change toward economic and social justice.
Throughout its history Sugar Law has highlighted the interdependence of civil and economic rights, pursuing economic justice by supporting grassroots campaigns for a living wage, representing communities of color in challenging environmental racism, and pressing for corporate and government accountability.
Sugar Law is dedicated to helping individuals, community organizations, unions, attorneys, and other people who are working for social justice. In some cases, we offer direct legal representation or assistance in grassroots efforts. For others, we offer legal support, expert advice, or referrals to private attorneys skilled in specific fields. We engage in public education around important issues of economic justice. We have also been consulted by governmental bodies seeking advice as they enact protections for workers and community members.
Donate to Sugar Law
Help sustain this important work!
To make a donation online click here; you can also use this form to send a donation by mail. Sugar Law can also put to good use many in-kind, non-monetary donations.
Your time and knowledge can make a difference. Click here for more information on how to volunteer, intern, or serve as a cooperating counsel.
The Sugar Law Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible under the terms of the tax law.
Sugar Law is headquartered in Detroit, but our work helps people and communities across the United States. We are available on a case-by-case basis to provide legal representation or other advocacy anywhere in the country. For more information, contact us. (Please note that we are not, and should not be viewed as, the attorneys in a case until we formally agree to represent you.)
In most cases, we provide our services for free or at a rate affordable by those in need. Sometimes, we will recover the cost of our services through court-awarded fees. To ensure that we can continue to provide no-cost or low-cost services to those who need them, we also depend on grants and tax-deductible donations. Our limited resources mean we have to select issues carefully to ensure we have maximum impact.
A regular newsletter informs supporters about our recent events and ongoing work.
Sugar Law's legal staff currently includes one full-time and one part-time attorney, volunteer attorneys, as well as legal interns. The staff works closely with cooperating counsel on all litigation, thus ensuring that we can maintain a national focus and also operate efficiently and effectively.
Sugar Law's work has been covered by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, local newspapers around the country, the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, National Public Radio, Detroit Metrotimes, and the National Law Journal, among other publications. In 1997 Sugar Law received the Environmental Justice Award from the NAACP-Flint Chapter for our work on the case NAACP v. Engler.
