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Proclamation congratulating Mr. Witold “Vic” Walczak, Esq. for receiving the Judge James R. McGregor Award from Amen Corner.
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WHEREAS, Witold J. “Vic” Walczak, Esquire has litigated civil rights cases for more than 30 years, the past 25 with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); and
WHEREAS, in Mr. Walczak’s role as Legal Director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and in his prior position as Legal Director of the Greater Pittsburgh Chapter of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, Mr. Walczak has successfully litigated cases to reaffirm the most basic constitutional rights of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Allegheny County; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Walczak has personally handled many nationally significant cases, including Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, the first case successfully challenging the teaching in public schools of “intelligent design” creationism; Lozano v. Hazleton, the first case successfully challenging a municipality’s misguided attempt to exclude undocumented immigrants; and Applewhite v. Commonwealth, which overturned Pennsylvania’s ban on marriages by same-sex couples. More recently, Mr. Walczak settled a class action lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services challenging lengthy delays in transferring mentally incompetent criminal defendants from jail to mental hospitals and won a preliminary injunction ordering the Lancaster School District to stop discriminating against refugee students and provide them equal educational opportunities, a decision the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in January 2017; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Walczak is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County and has received many professional awards;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Allegheny County Council hereby congratulates Witold J. “Vic” Walczak, Esquire for receiving the Judge James R. McGregor Award from Amen Corner during the group’s 57th Ann...
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