View source for Southern Poverty Law Center

{{Short description|American civil rights NGO, founded 1971}}
{{Redirect|SPLC}}
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{{Use American English|date = April 2019}}
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{{Infobox organization
| name                     = Southern Poverty Law Center
| logo                     = SPLC logo (2023).svg{{!}}class=skin-invert
| logo_size                = 125px
| image                    = 
| image_size               = 
| caption                  = 
| type                     = {{plainlist|
* Public-interest law firm
* Civil rights advocacy organization
}}
| status                   = [[501(c)(3)]]
| founded_date             = {{start date and age|August 1971}}
| tax_id                   = 63-0598743 ([[Employer Identification Number|EIN]])
| registration_id          = 
| founders                 = {{plainlist|
* [[Morris Dees]]
* Joseph J. Levin Jr.
* [[Julian Bond]]
}}
| location                 = [[Montgomery, Alabama]], U.S.
| coordinates              = {{Coord|32|22|36|N|86|18|12|W|type:landmark_region:US-AL|display=inline,title}}
| origins                  = 
| key_people               = Bryan Fair (interim CEO)<br>Karen Baynes-Dunning (board chair)
| area_served              = United States
| product                  = {{plainlist|
* Legal representation
* Educational materials
}}
| focus                    = {{plainlist|
* [[Hate group]]s
* [[Racism]]
* [[Civil and political rights|Civil rights]]
}}
| method                   = 
| revenue                  = $129 million (2024 [[Fiscal year|FY]])<ref name=form990/>
| endowment                = $822 million (2024 FY)<ref name=form990/>
| num_volunteers           = 
| num_employees            =
| num_members              = 
| subsid                   = 
| owner                    = 
| non-profit_slogan        = 
| former name              = 
| homepage                 = {{URL|https://www.splcenter.org/|splcenter.org}}
| dissolved                = 
| footnotes                = 
}}

The '''Southern Poverty Law Center''' ('''SPLC''') is an American [[501(c)(3) organization|501(c)(3) nonprofit]] legal advocacy organization specializing in [[civil and political rights|civil rights]] and [[public interest law|public interest litigation]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|title=Southern Poverty Law Center Inc - Nonprofit Explorer|url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/630598743|access-date=2021-03-08|website=[[ProPublica]]|date=May 9, 2013|language=en|archive-date=April 11, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411092923/https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/630598743|url-status=live}}</ref> Based in [[Montgomery, Alabama]], it is known for its legal cases against [[white supremacist]] groups, for its [[List of organizations designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as hate groups|classification of hate groups]] and other extremist organizations, and for promoting [[toleration|tolerance]] education programs.<ref name="wjfa">{{cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417164536/http://www.nola.com/picayunes/t-p/covingtonpicayune/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fnews-0%2F1162622544266020.xml&coll=1 |title=With Justice For All |date=November 5, 2006 |archive-date=April 17, 2008 |url=http://www.nola.com/picayunes/t-p/covingtonpicayune/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1162622544266020.xml&coll=1 |work=[[The Times-Picayune]] |url-status=dead  }}</ref><ref name="Finkelman_Encyclopedia_2006" />{{rp|1500}} The SPLC was founded by [[Morris Dees]], Joseph J. Levin Jr., and [[Julian Bond]] in 1971 as a civil rights law firm in Montgomery.<ref name="CNNpioneer">{{Cite news|author = Chebium, Raju|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/LAW/09/08/morris.dees.profile|title=Attorney Morris Dees pioneer in using 'damage litigation' to fight hate groups|work=CNN|date=September 8, 2000|access-date=May 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060618234711/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/LAW/09/08/morris.dees.profile|archive-date=June 18, 2006}}</ref>

In 1980, the SPLC began a litigation strategy of filing civil suits for monetary damages on behalf of the victims of violence from the [[Ku Klux Klan]].<ref name="Chalmers_Backfire_2003"/> The SPLC also became involved in other civil rights causes, including cases to challenge what it sees as institutional racial segregation and discrimination, inhumane and unconstitutional conditions in prisons and detention centers, discrimination based on [[sexual orientation]], mistreatment of [[Illegal immigration|illegal immigrants]], and the [[Constitutionality|unconstitutional]] [[Separation of church and state|mixing of church and state]]. The SPLC has provided information about hate groups to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) and other law enforcement agencies.<ref name=FBI>[[#CITEREFMichael2012|Michael (2012)]], p. 32.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/civil-rights/hate-crimes|title=What We Investigate: Hate Crimes: The FBI's Role: Public Outreach|website=www.fbi.gov|access-date=May 20, 2017|quote=The FBI has forged partnerships nationally and locally with many civil rights organizations to establish rapport, share information, address concerns, and cooperate in solving problems....The FBI has forged partnerships nationally and locally with many civil rights organizations to establish rapport, share information, address concerns, and cooperate in solving problems. These groups include such organizations as the...Southern Poverty Law Center. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519002149/https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/civil-rights/hate-crimes|archive-date=May 19, 2017}}</ref> As of October 3, 2025, the FBI has cut ties to the Southern Poverty Law Center. FBI Director [[Kash Patel]] said, "Their so-called 'hate map' has been used to defame mainstream Americans and even inspired violence." <ref> https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fbi-cuts-ties-with-civil-rights-group-southern-poverty-law-center-2025-10-03/ </ref>

Since the 2000s, the SPLC's classification and listings of hate groups (organizations that "attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics") and anti-government extremists have been widely relied upon by academic and media sources.<ref name=CSMonitor2016>[https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2016/0218/Does-the-Southern-Poverty-Law-Center-target-conservatives "Does the Southern Poverty Law Center target conservatives?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211211052652/https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2016/0218/Does-the-Southern-Poverty-Law-Center-target-conservatives |date=December 11, 2021 }} ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'', February 18, 2016</ref><ref name="Chen">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=97ZeCe6SmngC&pg=PA95|title=Intelligence and Security Informatics for International Security: Information Sharing and Data Mining|last=Chen|first=Hsinchun|date=2006|publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]]|isbn=978-0-387-24379-5|location=New York|page=95|quote=... the web sites of the "Southern Poverty Law Center" [...] and the Anti-Defamation League [...] are authoritative sources for identifying domestic extremists and hate groups.|author-link=Hsinchun Chen}}</ref><ref name=Swain>{{cite book |last=Swain |first=Carol |author-link=Carol M. Swain |title=The New White Nationalism in America: Its Challenge to Integration |location=Cambridge, UK |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=75 |date=2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HB1wyFPRGm4C&pg=PA75 |isbn=978-0-521-80886-6 }}</ref> The SPLC's listings have also been criticized by those who argue that some of the SPLC's listings are overbroad, politically motivated, or unwarranted.<ref name="WaPoHateList">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/02/17/hate-groups-rose-14-percent-last-year-the-first-increase-since-2010/|title=The Year of 'Enormous Rage': Number of Hate Groups Rose by 14 Percent in 2015|last=Chokshi|first=Niraj|date=February 17, 2016|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=June 5, 2024|archive-date=June 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619063133/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/02/17/hate-groups-rose-14-percent-last-year-the-first-increase-since-2010/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="politico" /><ref name="csmonitor.com">Jonsson, Patrik (February 23, 2011). [https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2011/0223/Annual-report-cites-rise-in-hate-groups-but-some-ask-What-is-hate "Annual report cites rise in hate groups, but some ask: What is hate?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222015315/https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2011/0223/Annual-report-cites-rise-in-hate-groups-but-some-ask-What-is-hate |date=December 22, 2017 }}. ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]''</ref><ref name="Graham">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/06/maajid-nawaz-v-splc/562646/ |title=The Unlabelling of an 'Anti-Muslim Extremist' |last=Graham |first=David A. |date=June 18, 2018 |work=The Atlantic |access-date=July 5, 2018 |quote=While the fabled nonprofit has long had its critics, many of them hatemongers like Gaffney, the new chorus included sympathetic observers and fellow researchers on hate groups, who worried that SPLC was mixing its research and activist strains. |archive-date=June 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629022912/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/06/maajid-nawaz-v-splc/562646/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The organization has also been accused of an overindulgent use of funds, leading some employees to call its headquarters "Poverty Palace".<ref name="NYker_Moser_Reckoning_20190325">{{cite news |last=Moser |first=Bob |date=March 21, 2019 |title=The Reckoning of Morris Dees and the Southern Poverty Law Center |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-reckoning-of-morris-dees-and-the-southern-poverty-law-center |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |access-date=June 22, 2020 |quote=In 1995, the ''Montgomery Advertiser'' had been a Pulitzer finalist for a series that documented, among other things, staffers' allegations of racial discrimination within the organization. |archive-date=September 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230910135324/https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-reckoning-of-morris-dees-and-the-southern-poverty-law-center |url-status=live }}</ref>

==History==
[[Image:Splc.jpg|thumb|The SPLC headquarters in [[Montgomery, Alabama]]]]

The Southern Poverty Law Center was founded by civil rights lawyers [[Morris Dees]] and Joseph J. Levin Jr. in August 1971<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.irs&ein=630598743 |title=IRS Data for Southern Poverty Law Center | website= charitynavigator.org |publisher=[[Charity Navigator]] |access-date= February 9, 2018 |archive-date= February 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209122210/https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.irs&ein=630598743 |url-status=live }}</ref> as a law firm originally focused on issues such as fighting poverty, racial discrimination and the [[death penalty]] in the US. Dees asked civil rights leader [[Julian Bond]] to serve as president, a largely honorary position; he resigned in 1979 but remained on the [[board of directors]] until his death in 2015.

In 1979, Dees and the SPLC began filing civil lawsuits against [[Ku Klux Klan]] chapters and similar organizations for monetary damages on behalf of their victims. The favorable verdicts from these suits served to bankrupt the KKK and other targeted organizations.<ref name="gm" /> According to a 1996 article in ''The New York Times'', Dees and the SPLC "have been credited with devising innovative legal ways to cripple hate groups, including seizing their assets."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0616FC395D0C718DDDAC0894DE494D81|title=Conversations/Morris Dees; A Son of Alabama takes on Americans Who Live to Hate|work=[[The New York Times]]| date=May 12, 1996|first=bKevin| last=Sack|access-date= September 18, 2007}}</ref> Some civil libertarians said that SPLC's tactics chill free speech and set legal precedents that could be applied against activist groups which are not hate groups.<ref name=gm>{{cite book|last1=Michael|first1=George|title=Confronting Right-Wing Extremism and Terrorism in the USA|date=2003|pages=19–21, 163|publisher= Routledge| isbn= 978-1134377626| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5SOAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA21|access-date=May 2, 2017|language=en|archive-date=September 4, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240904062126/https://books.google.com/books?id=5SOAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA21#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1981, the Center began its ''Klanwatch'' project to monitor the activities of the KKK. That project, later called ''Hatewatch'', was later expanded to include seven other types of hate organizations.<ref name= "SPLC_hatemap_2006">{{Cite news|url= http://www.splcenter.org/intel/map/hate.jsp |title=Active U.S. Hate Groups in 2006 | website= splcenter.org |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |year=2007 |access-date=September 18, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106220640/http://www.splcenter.org/intel/map/hate.jsp |archive-date=January 6, 2010  }}</ref>

In 1986, the entire legal staff of the SPLC, excluding Dees, resigned as the organization shifted from traditional civil rights work toward fighting right-wing extremism.<ref name="gm" /> In 1989, the Center unveiled its [[Civil Rights Memorial]], which was designed by [[Maya Lin]].<ref name= "NYT_Tauber_19910224">{{Cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/24/magazine/monument-maker.html|title= Monument Maker| work= The New York Times |date=February 24, 1991|access-date= September 18, 2007|first1=Peter|last1= Tauber| archive-date=November 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107151105/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/24/magazine/monument-maker.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1995, the ''[[Montgomery Advertiser]]'' won a Pulitzer Prize recognition for work that probed management self-interest, questionable practices, and employee racial discrimination allegations in the SPLC.<ref>{{cite web |title=Finalist: Staff of Montgomery (AL) Advertiser |url=https://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/staff-73 |website= Pulitzer.org |publisher=Columbia University |access-date=March 30, 2019 |quote=For its probe of questionable management practices and self-interest at the Southern Poverty Law Center, the nation's best-endowed civil rights charity. |archive-date=March 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330064532/https://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/staff-73 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name= "NYker_Moser_Reckoning_20190325"/>

The Center's "Teaching Tolerance" project was initiated in 1991.<ref name= "NYT_Dees_">{{Cite news|series=Opinion|title=Young, Gullible and Taught to Hate|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=June 26, 2020|date=August 25, 1993|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/25/opinion/young-gullible-and-taught-to-hate.html|archive-date=June 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630000841/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/25/opinion/young-gullible-and-taught-to-hate.html|url-status=live}}[http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A174678067/GPS?u=nm_p_losalamos&sid=GPS&xid=de287915 GALE] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240904061957/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&u=nm_p_losalamos&id=GALE%7CA174678067&v=2.1&it=r&sid=GPS&asid=de287915 |date=September 4, 2024 }}</ref>

In 2008, the SPLC and Dees were featured on ''[[National Geographic Channel|National Geographic]]''{{'}}s ''Inside American Terror'' explaining their litigation strategy against the Ku Klux Klan.<ref name="NG_AmericanTerrorKKK_2008"/>

In 2011, the SPLC was "involved in high-profile state fights",<ref name="montgomeryadvertiser_Lyman_20191216"/>  including the battle over the [[Georgia House Bill 87]] (HB 87). The SPLC joined with the [[American Civil Liberties Union|ACLU]], the [[Asian Law Caucus]], and the [[National Immigration Law Center]] in June 2011, to file a lawsuit challenging HB 87.<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2011-jun-02-la-na-georgia-immigration-20110603-story.html |title= Georgia immigration law taken to court |last=Ceasar |first=Stephen |date= 2011-06-02 |work= Los Angeles Times |access-date=2017-09-09 |language=en-US |issn=0458-3035 |archive-date=May 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518001227/http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/02/nation/la-na-georgia-immigration-20110603 |url-status=live }}</ref> which resulted in a permanent injunction in 2013 blocking multiple provisions of the law.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.aclu.org/cases/georgia-latino-alliance-human-rights-et-al-v-deal |title=Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, et al. v. Deal |website= aclu.org | publisher= [[American Civil Liberties Union]] |language=en |access-date=2017-09-02 |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126083501/https://www.aclu.org/cases/georgia-latino-alliance-human-rights-et-al-v-deal |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2013, "Teaching Tolerance" was cited as "of the most widely read periodicals dedicated to diversity and social justice in education".<ref>{{cite journal|title=Reviewed Work(s): Teaching Tolerance|first1=Stergios|last1=Botzakis|first2=Joseph|last2=Flynn|journal=[[Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy]]|volume=57|issue=4|pages=331|year=2013|jstor=24034690 }}</ref>

In 2016, the SPLC's "ranks swelled" and its "endowment surged" after U.S. President [[Donald Trump]] was elected, resulting in the hiring of 200 new employees.<ref name="NYT_Blinder_20190322">{{Cite news| issn = 0362-4331| last = Blinder| first = Alan| title = Southern Poverty Law Center President Plans Exit Amid Turmoil| work = The New York Times| access-date = June 26, 2020| date = March 22, 2019| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/us/splc-richard-cohen-resigns.html| archive-date = October 20, 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211020055409/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/us/splc-richard-cohen-resigns.html| url-status = live}}</ref>

In 2018, The SPLC filed suits related to the conditions of [[Incarceration in the United States|incarceration]] for adults and juveniles.<ref>{{Cite web|title=2018 Public Defense News Archive|url=https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_aid_indigent_defendants/indigent_defense_systems_improvement/public-defense-news-archive/2018/ |website= americanbar.org| language=en|archive-date=June 9, 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200609162841/https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_aid_indigent_defendants/indigent_defense_systems_improvement/public-defense-news-archive/2018/|url-status=live |access-date= 2020-06-09}}</ref>

In March 2019, founder Morris Dees was fired. In April, Karen Baynes-Dunning was named as interim president and CEO.<ref name="CNN_Simon_20190402"/> After a "tumultuous year", in mid-December 2019, staff at the SPLC voted to unionize, with 142 in favor and 45 against.<ref name= "montgomeryadvertiser_Lyman_20191216">{{Cite web| title = Southern Poverty Law Center staff vote to unionize| work = The Montgomery Advertiser| access-date = June 26, 2020| date = December 16, 2019| first = Brian| last = Lyman| url = https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2019/12/16/southern-poverty-law-center-votes-unionize/2661726001/| archive-date = August 12, 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200812060223/https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2019/12/16/southern-poverty-law-center-votes-unionize/2661726001/| url-status = live}}</ref> The SPLC had "long been dogged by accusations of internal discrimination against minority employees, particularly in the area of promotions."<ref name= "montgomeryadvertiser_Lyman_2200203"/> A new president and CEO, Margaret Huang, was named in early February 2020.<ref name= "montgomeryadvertiser_Lyman_2200203"/> Huang resigned in July 2025 and was replaced by interim CEO Bryan Fair.<ref name=huang>{{cite news |last1=Chapoco |first1=Ralph |title=SPLC Interim CEO Bryan Fair not a candidate to be permanent CEO |url=https://alabamareflector.com/2025/08/22/splc-interim-ceo-bryan-fair-not-a-candidate-to-be-permanent-ceo/ |access-date=18 September 2025 |work=Alabama Reflector |date=22 August 2025}}</ref>

The SPLC and the ACLU have been involved in "battles over the treatment of inmates in the state's prisons",<ref name= "montgomeryadvertiser_Lyman_20191216"/> including an emergency request in April 2020 for the "release of tens of thousands of people in [[U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement|ICE]] custody" if ICE cannot provide protection for vulnerable inmates during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. The federal court injunction was filed as part of an existing class-action lawsuit regarding conditions in ICE facilities.<ref name= "Latimes_Castillo_20200407">{{Cite news| title = 'I am afraid for my life': Immigrant detainees plead to be released| work = Los Angeles Times| first = Andrea| last = Castillo| access-date = June 27, 2020| date = April 7, 2020| url = https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-07/immigrant-advocates-sue-to-get-vulnerable-detainees-released-from-ice-custody-amid-coronavirus| archive-date = June 27, 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200627071028/https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-07/immigrant-advocates-sue-to-get-vulnerable-detainees-released-from-ice-custody-amid-coronavirus| url-status = live}}</ref>

In June 2024, 80 people, representing 25% of the SPLC's workforce, were laid off. In September 2024, 92% of remaining SPLC staffers supported a no-confidence motion on the organization's CEO, [[Margaret Huang]]. The workers demanded a reversal of the mass layoff, which they characterized as a union-busting tactic, and the hiring of a new CEO. The chair of the union's bargaining committee called the layoffs "sloppy, dispassionate, inhumane. It has been the absolute opposite of what the organization says they stand for and absolute chaos since then." SPLC leadership dismissed the union's request to remove Huang as CEO.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sainato |first1=Michael |title=Southern Poverty Law Center workers vote to remove CEO after 'inhumane' layoffs |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/12/southern-poverty-law-center-layoffs |access-date=30 December 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=12 September 2024}}</ref> Huang resigned as CEO in July 2025.<ref name=huang/>

===Leadership upheaval amid harassment allegations===
In March 2019, the SPLC fired founder Morris Dees for undisclosed reasons and removed his profile from the SPLC website. In a statement regarding the firing, the SPLC announced it would be bringing in an "outside organization to conduct a comprehensive assessment of our internal climate and workplace practices."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/434127-southern-poverty-law-center-fires-co-founder|title= Southern Poverty Law Center fires co-founder|last=Bowden|first=John|date=March 14, 2019|website=The Hill|language=en|access-date=March 14, 2019|archive-date=October 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027013150/https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/434127-southern-poverty-law-center-fires-co-founder|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Hassan, Adeel; Zraick, Karen; and Blinder, Alan (March 14, 2019) [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/14/us/morris-dees-southern-poverty-law-center-fired.html "Morris Dees, a Co-Founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Is Ousted"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190315195755/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/14/us/morris-dees-southern-poverty-law-center-fired.html |date=March 15, 2019 }} ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2019/03/14/southern-poverty-law-center-fires-co-founder-civil-rights-lawyer-morris-dees/3164839002/|title=Southern Poverty Law Center fires co-founder Morris Dees|website=The Montgomery Advertiser|language=en|access-date=March 14, 2019|archive-date=March 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190314210310/https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2019/03/14/southern-poverty-law-center-fires-co-founder-civil-rights-lawyer-morris-dees/3164839002/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Following the dismissal, a letter signed by two dozen SPLC employees was sent to management, expressing concern that "allegations of mistreatment, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and racism threaten the moral authority of this organization and our integrity along with it."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-splc-morris-dees-20190314-story.html|title=Southern Poverty Law Center fires co-founder Morris Dees amid employee uproar|last=Pearce|first=Matt|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=March 19, 2019|date=March 15, 2019|archive-date=March 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190318221625/https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-splc-morris-dees-20190314-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> One former employee wrote that the "unchecked power of lavishly compensated white men at the top" of the SPLC contributed to a culture which made black and female employees the targets of harassment.<ref name="NYker_Moser_Reckoning_20190325"/>

A week later, President Richard Cohen and legal director Rhonda Brownstein announced their resignations amid the internal upheaval. The associate legal director Meredith Horton quit, alleging concerns regarding workplace culture.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nick Valencia |last2=Pamela Kirkland |title=Famous civil rights group suffers from 'systemic culture of racism and sexism,' staffers say |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/29/us/splc-leadership-crisis/index.html |access-date=March 30, 2019 |work=CNN.com |date=March 29, 2019 |quote=Horton was a high-ranking African-American woman in the organization. In her resignation letter, obtained by CNN, Horton cited concerns about workplace culture. |archive-date= March 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330061936/https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/29/us/splc-leadership-crisis/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>  Cohen said, "Whatever problems exist at the SPLC happened on my watch, so I take responsibility for them."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-splc-richard-cohen-resigns-20190322-story.html|title=Southern Poverty Law Center chief Richard Cohen announces resignation amid internal upheaval|last=Pearce|first= Matt|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=March 23, 2019|date=March 23, 2019|archive-date=March 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323031549/https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-splc-richard-cohen-resigns-20190322-story.html|url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/us/splc-richard-cohen-resigns.html|title=Southern Poverty Law Center President Plans Exit Amid Turmoil|last=Blinder|first=Alan|date= March 22, 2019|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 23, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=October 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020055409/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/us/splc-richard-cohen-resigns.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Administration==
In early February 2020, [[Margaret Huang]], who was formerly the chief executive at [[Amnesty International USA]], was named as president and CEO of the SPLC.<ref name="montgomeryadvertiser_Lyman_2200203">{{Cite news |title=SPLC names Margaret Huang as its president and CEO |first=Brian |last=Lyman |newspaper=Montgomery Advertiser |date=February 3, 2020 |access-date=June 26, 2020 |url=https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2020/02/03/margaret-huang-named-splc-president-ceo-amnesty-international/4645941002/ |archive-date=May 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516230323/https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2020/02/03/margaret-huang-named-splc-president-ceo-amnesty-international/4645941002/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Huang replaced Karen Baynes-Dunning, a former juvenile court judge, who had served as interim president and CEO since April 2019, after founder Morris Dees was fired in March 2019.<ref name="CNN_Simon_20190402">{{Cite news| first = Darran| last = Simon| title = Southern Poverty Law Center names new interim president and CEO| work = CNN| access-date = June 26, 2020| url = https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/02/us/southern-poverty-law-center-leadership-change/index.html| archive-date = June 27, 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200627025109/https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/02/us/southern-poverty-law-center-leadership-change/index.html| url-status = live}}</ref> The SPLC had appointed [[Tina Tchen]], a former chief of staff for former first lady [[Michelle Obama]], to review and investigate any issues with the organization's workplace environment related to Dees' firing.<ref name="NYker_Moser_Reckoning_20190325"/> Huang resigned in July 2025 and was replaced by interim CEO Bryan Fair.<ref name=huang/>

==Fundraising and finances==
The SPLC's activities, including litigation, are supported by fundraising efforts, and it does not accept any fees or share in legal judgments awarded to clients it represents in court. Starting in 1974, the SPLC set aside money for its [[Financial endowment|endowment]] stating that it was "convinced that the day [would] come when non-profit groups [would] no longer be able to rely on support through mail because of posting and printing costs".<ref name="splcenter.org">{{Cite news| url=http://www.splcenter.org/center/splcreport/article.jsp?aid=41|title=Endowment Supports Center's Future Work|publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center|date= June 2003|access-date=September 18, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930170924/http://www.splcenter.org/center/splcreport/article.jsp?aid=41|archive-date=September 30, 2007}}</ref>

The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' reported that by 2017, the SPLC's financial resources "nearly totaled half a billion dollars in assets".<ref name="LA_Times_Pearce_20190314">{{Cite news| title = Southern Poverty Law Center fires co-founder Morris Dees amid employee uproar| first = Matt| last = Pearce| work = Los Angeles Times| access-date = June 27, 2020| date = March 14, 2019| url = https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-splc-morris-dees-20190314-story.html| archive-date = June 29, 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200629001822/https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-splc-morris-dees-20190314-story.html| url-status = live}}</ref> In 2023, its endowment was $749 million, its revenue was $170 million, and its expenses totaled $122 million. In 2024, revenue and expenses were both $129 million and the group's endowment grew to $822 million.<ref name=form990>{{cite web |title=Southern Poverty Law Center Inc - Nonprofit Explorer |url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/630598743 |website=ProPublica |access-date=18 September 2025 |language=en |date=9 May 2013}}</ref>

Prior to his departure in 2019, Dees' "role at the Center was focused on 'donor relations' and 'expanding the Center's financial resources.'"<ref name="LA_Times_Pearce_20190314"/>

The SPLC's related 501(c)(4) organization, the SPLC Action Fund, formed two political action committees in 2022: New Southern Leaders federal PAC and the New Southern Majority federal Super PAC.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Holmes |first=Jacob |date=2022-09-14 |title=SPLC Action Fund launches new PACs to recruit progressive candidates throughout South |url=https://www.alreporter.com/2022/09/14/splc-action-fund-launches-new-pacs-to-recruit-progressive-candidates-throughout-south/ |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=Alabama Political Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref> The New Southern Leaders PAC spent more than $21,000 in 2023-24, most going to the SPLC Action Fund, which spent more than $1,000,000 in independent expenditures in the 2019-20 election cycle.[https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/splc-action-fund/C90020496/summary/2020]

===Charity ratings===
{{As of|2023}}, based on figures from [[Fiscal Year]] 2022, [[Charity Navigator]] rated the SPLC four out of four stars, with an overall score of 99/100 for "Accountability & Finance".<ref name="charitynavigator_2023">{{Cite web| title = Charity Navigator - Rating for Southern Poverty Law Center| work = Charity Navigator| access-date = {{date|December 30, 2023}}| url = https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/630598743| date = {{date|2023}}| quote = This charity's score is 99%, earning it a Four-Star rating.| archive-date = December 30, 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231230211640/https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/630598743| url-status = live}}</ref> The missing point was due to SPLC failing to post a "Donor Privacy Policy" on its website.<ref name="charitynavigator_2023"/> SPLC's 2022 revenue totaled $140,350,982, and its expenses amounted to $111,043,025.<ref name="charitynavigator_2023"/> According to Charity Navigator's Historical Ratings, SPLC has earned four-star ratings since 2019.<ref name="charitynavigator_2023"/>

{{As of|2023}}, SPLC has earned the [[GuideStar]] Gold Seal of Transparency,<ref>{{cite web| title = Southern Poverty Law Center, Inc. - GuideStar Profile| url = https://www.guidestar.org/profile/63-0598743| work = [[GuideStar]]| access-date = {{date|December 30, 2023}}| archive-date = March 29, 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170329045700/https://www.guidestar.org/profile/63-0598743| url-status = live}}</ref> which is given to organizations that voluntarily share their financials and "highlight their commitment to inclusivity to gain funders' trust and support."<ref>{{cite web| title = GuideStar Profile Best Practices| url = https://www.guidestar.org/UpdateNonprofitProfile/profile-best-practices| work = [[GuideStar]]| access-date = {{date|December 30, 2023}}| archive-date = December 30, 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231230211640/https://www.guidestar.org/UpdateNonprofitProfile/profile-best-practices| url-status = live}}</ref> SPLC previously earned GuideStar's Platinum Seal of Transparency,<ref>{{Cite web| title = Charity Navigator - Rating for Southern Poverty Law Center| work = [[Charity Navigator]]| access-date = June 27, 2020| url = http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4482| date = September 3, 2019| archive-date = July 16, 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200716210723/https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4482| url-status = live}}</ref> but did not retain it.

{{As of|alt=In 2023|2023|02|03}}, [[CharityWatch]] initially gave SPLC a grade of B based on its 2021 financials. CharityWatch, however, downgrades all charities that "hoard" donations,<ref>{{cite web| title = Don't Judge a Not-For-Profit by Its Profits| url = https://www.charitywatch.org/charity-donating-articles/don39t-judge-a-not-for-profit-by-its-profits| access-date = {{date|December 30, 2023}}| work = [[CharityWatch]]| date = August 2012| archive-date = December 30, 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231230211640/https://www.charitywatch.org/charity-donating-articles/don39t-judge-a-not-for-profit-by-its-profits| url-status = live}}</ref> which per CharityWatch's definition occurs whenever "a charity's available assets in reserve exceeds three years' worth its annual budget."<ref name="charitywatch_ratings">{{cite web| title = Charity Rating Process| url=https://www.charitywatch.org/our-charity-rating-process#high-assets| access-date={{date|December 30, 2023}}| work = [[CharityWatch]]}}</ref> In particular, CharityWatch automatically "downgrades to an F rating any charity holding available assets in reserve equal to 5 years or more of its annual budget."<ref name="charitywatch_ratings"/> In accordance with this policy, on {{date|February 3, 2023}} CharityWatch downgraded SPLC from B to F because it had 7.3 years of available assets in reserve, it spent 68% of its funds on programs, and it cost $20 to raise $100.<ref>{{cite web| title = This Charity May Not Use Your Donation for 19 Years!| url = https://www.charitywatch.org/charity-donating-articles/this-charity-may-not-use-your-donation-for-19-years| date = {{date|February 3, 2023}}| access-date = {{date|December 30, 2023}}| work = [[CharityWatch]]}}</ref>

The SPLC declined to submit information or be evaluated by the [[BBB Wise Giving Alliance|Charity Accountability]] section of the Better Business Bureau.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://give.org/charity-reviews/Law-and-Public-Interest/Southern-Poverty-Law-Center-in-Montgomery-al-106 |title=Archived copy |access-date=May 28, 2024 |archive-date=May 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528191749/https://give.org/charity-reviews/Law-and-Public-Interest/Southern-Poverty-Law-Center-in-Montgomery-al-106 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Criminal attacks and plots against the SPLC==
In July 1983, the SPLC headquarters was [[Firebombing|firebombed]], destroying the building and records.<ref name="1983Firebomb">{{Cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40910F73B5D0C728FDDAE0894DB484D81|title=Fire Damages Alabama Center that Battles the Klan|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 31, 1983|access-date=September 18, 2007}}</ref> In February 1985, Klansmen Joe M. Garner and Roy T. Downs Jr., along with Klan sympathizer Charles Bailey, pleaded guilty to conspiring to intimidate, oppress and threaten members of black organizations represented by SPLC.<ref name="1985pledFirebomb">{{Cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9903E4DD1239F932A15751C0A963948260|title=2 Klan Members Plead Guilty To Arson in Black Law Office|work=[[The New York Times]]|agency=AP|date=February 21, 1985|access-date=May 15, 2017|archive-date=September 4, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240904062128/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/21/us/2-klan-members-plead-guilty-to-arson-in-black-law-office.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The SPLC built a new headquarters building from 1999 to 2001.<ref>See:
* {{cite news|last1=Maclean|first1=John F.|title=Law center begins project|url=http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/261146432|access-date=May 14, 2017|work=[[The Montgomery Advertiser]]|date=February 16, 1999|page=1C|url-access=subscription|archive-date=August 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805105242/http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/261146432/|url-status=live}}
* {{cite news|author=McGrew, Jannell|title=Southern Poverty Law Center's New Home: New building sports a more modern look|pages=1A–2A|url=http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/261307760/|newspaper=Montgomery Advertiser|date=March 29, 2001|access-date=May 14, 2017|url-access=subscription|archive-date=August 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805111527/http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/261307760/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1984, Morris Dees became an assassination target of [[The Order (white supremacist group)|the Order]], a revolutionary white supremacist group.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F4061FF63D5D0C748DDDA00894DD484D81&n|title=Death List Names Given to U.S. Jury|work=[[The New York Times]]|agency=UPI|date=September 17, 1985|access-date=May 15, 2017|archive-date=November 14, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114190051/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F4061FF63D5D0C748DDDA00894DD484D81&n|url-status=live}}</ref> By 2007, according to Dees, more than 30 people had been jailed in connection with plots to kill him or to blow up SPLC offices.<ref name="GruvermontgomeryJuly">{{Cite news|url=http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070814/NEWS/708140328/1001 |title=Southern Poverty Law Center beefs up security |work=[[Montgomery Advertiser]] |date=August 17, 2007 |first=Kym |last=Klass |access-date=March 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927192930/http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20070814%2FNEWS%2F708140328%2F1001 |archive-date=September 27, 2007 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

In 1995, four men were indicted for planning to blow up the SPLC headquarters.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04EEDA1539F937A25752C1A963958260|title=4 Are Accused in Oklahoma of Bomb Plot|work=[[The New York Times]]|agency=AP|date=November 14, 1995|access-date=May 15, 2017|archive-date=September 4, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240904062005/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/14/us/4-are-accused-in-oklahoma-of-bomb-plot.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In May 1998, three white supremacists were arrested for allegedly planning a nationwide campaign of assassinations and bombings targeting Morris Dees and his Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama as well as the [[Simon Wiesenthal Center]] in Los Angeles, the [[Anti-Defamation League]] in New York, an undisclosed federal judge in Illinois and a black radio show host in Missouri.<ref>"Group is accused of plotting assassinations, bombings. Two others will plead guilty Thursday." ''[[St Louis Post-Dispatch]]'' (MO) (May 13, 1998): p. B1.</ref>

==Notable SPLC civil cases on behalf of clients==
The Southern Poverty Law Center has initiated a number of [[Civil law (common law)|civil cases]] seeking injunctive relief and monetary awards on behalf of its clients. The SPLC has said it does not accept any portion of monetary judgments.<ref name="newsweek_1984">{{cite news|title=Bringing the Klan to Court|url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/8400004834|newspaper=[[Newsweek]] |volume =103|issue = 21|issn=0028-9604|date=May 28, 1984|page=69|access-date=September 13, 2012|url-access=subscription}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=July 2018}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0715FB3E580C728EDDA80994D1484D81|title=Two Sides of the Contemporary South: Racial Incidents and Black Progress|work=[[The New York Times]]|date= November 21, 1989|access-date=September 18, 2007|first=Peter|last=Applebome}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=July 2018|reason=The source says nothing that supports this information.}}

===''Sims v. Amos'' (1974)===
An early SPLC case was ''Sims v. Amos'' (consolidated with ''[[Nixon v. Brewer]]'') in which the [[United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama|U.S. District Court for the Middle of Alabama]] ordered the state legislature to reapportion its election system. The result of the decision, which the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, was that fifteen black legislators were elected in 1974.<ref>See:
* {{cite book|last1=Phillips|first1=Michael|editor1-last=Finkelman|editor1-first=Paul|title=Encyclopedia of African American History|date=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0195167795|pages=361–62|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6gbQHxb_P0QC&q=splc+alabama+legislature+1972&pg=RA3-PA361|access-date=May 25, 2017|chapter=Southern Poverty Law Center|archive-date=September 4, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240904062503/https://books.google.com/books?id=6gbQHxb_P0QC&q=splc+alabama+legislature+1972&pg=RA3-PA361#v=snippet&q=splc%20alabama%20legislature%201972&f=false|url-status=live}}
* {{cite news|title=Nixon v. Brewer, CV-3017-N: Reapportionment Case|newspaper=Southern Poverty Law Center|url=https://www.splcenter.org/seeking-justice/case-docket/nixon-v-brewer|publisher=SPLC|access-date=May 25, 2017|archive-date=February 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221102547/https://www.splcenter.org/seeking-justice/case-docket/nixon-v-brewer|url-status=live}}
* {{cite news|last1=Stanley|first1=J. Adrian|title=Morris Dees on the legacy of his Southern Poverty Law Center [interview]|url=https://www.csindy.com/coloradosprings/morris-dees-on-the-legacy-of-his-southern-poverty-law-center/Content?oid=5447174|access-date=May 25, 2017|work=Colorado Springs Independent|date=May 10, 2017|archive-date=May 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510075141/http://www.csindy.com/coloradosprings/morris-dees-on-the-legacy-of-his-southern-poverty-law-center/Content?oid=5447174|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===''Brown v. Invisible Empire, KKK'' (1980)===
In 1979, the Klan began a summer of attacks against civil rights groups, beginning in Alabama. In [[Decatur, Alabama]], Klan members clashed with a group of civil rights marchers. There were a hundred Klan members carrying "bats, ax handles and guns". A black woman, Bernice Brown, was shot and other marchers were violently attacked. In ''Brown v. Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan'', filed in 1980 in the USDC Northern District of Alabama, the SPLC sued the Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan on behalf of plaintiffs, Brown and other black marchers.<ref name="SPLC_Brown_1980">{{cite web |url=https://www.splcenter.org/seeking-justice/case-docket/brown-v-invisible-empire-knights-ku-klux-klan |title=Brown v. Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan |work=SPLC |access-date=June 22, 2020 |date=1980 |archive-date=June 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623054045/https://www.splcenter.org/seeking-justice/case-docket/brown-v-invisible-empire-knights-ku-klux-klan |url-status=live }}</ref> The civil suit  was settled in 1990 and "required Klansmen to pay damages, perform community service, and refrain from white supremacist activity."<ref name="SPLC_Brown_1980"/> Chalmers wrote in ''Backfire'', that the Klan had been in serious decline since the end of the 1970s. He described the "Klan summer of 1979",<ref name="WaPo_19790623">{{Cite news| issn = 0190-8286| title = Night in Alabama With the Ku Klux Klan| newspaper = [[The Washington Post]]| access-date = June 23, 2020| date = August 26, 1979| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1979/08/26/night-in-alabama-with-the-ku-klux-klan/6b2d7fd9-60b6-438e-a7f7-45522d03fc99/| archive-date = June 28, 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200628161654/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1979/08/26/night-in-alabama-with-the-ku-klux-klan/6b2d7fd9-60b6-438e-a7f7-45522d03fc99/| url-status = live}}</ref> as a "catastrophe" for the Klan, as the SPLC's newly established Klanwatch, which became a "powerful weapon" that "tracked and litigated" the Klan.<ref name="Chalmers_Backfire_2003"/>{{rp|112}} According to Chalmers, "[b]eginning with the Decatur street confrontation, the SPLC's Klanwatch began suing various Klans in federal court for civil rights violations", and as a result, the Klan lost credibility and its resources were depleted.<ref name="Chalmers_Backfire_2003"/>{{rp|112}} <ref group="Notes">In his 2003 publication, Chalmers warned that the Klan had given way to the next generation of hate groups.</ref> As a result of the SPLC, the FBI reopen their case against the Klan, and "nine Klansmen were eventually convicted of criminal charges" related to the Decatur confrontation of 1979.<ref name="SPLC_Brown_1980"/>

===Vietnamese fishermen (1981)===
In 1981, the SPLC took Ku Klux Klan leader [[Louis Beam]]'s Klan-associated militia, the [[Texas Emergency Reserve]] (TER),<ref>{{cite book |last=Kushner |first=Harvey W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5h6SJ1iWdvgC&pg=PA108 |title=The Future of Terrorism: Violence in the New Millennium |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=1998 |isbn=978-0761908692 |page=108 |author-link=Harvey Kushner |access-date=August 15, 2015 |archive-date=June 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605230126/https://books.google.com/books?id=5h6SJ1iWdvgC&pg=PA108#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> to court to stop racial harassment and intimidation of Vietnamese [[shrimp fishery|shrimpers]] in and around [[Galveston Bay]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60610F93D5C0C718CDDAC0894D9484D81|title=Klan Official is Accused of Intimidation|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 2, 1981|first=William K.|last=Stevens|access-date=September 18, 2007}}</ref> The Klan's actions against approximately 100 Vietnamese shrimpers in the area included a [[cross burning]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0C17FC3C5C0C768EDDAD0894D9484D81|title=Klan Inflames Gulf Fishing Fight Between Whites and Vietnamese|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 25, 1981|first=William K.|last=Stevens|access-date=September 18, 2007}}</ref> sniper fire aimed at them, and arsonists burning their boats.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gay|first=Kathlyn|title=American Dissidents: An Encyclopedia of Activists, Subversives, and Prisoners of Conscience|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZzQVpPvlVMcC&pg=PA183|year=2012|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1598847642|page=183|access-date=August 15, 2015|archive-date=June 5, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605230054/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZzQVpPvlVMcC&pg=PA183|url-status=live}}</ref>

In May 1981, [[U.S. District Court]] judge [[Gabrielle Kirk McDonald]]<ref name=devil>{{cite book|last=Greenhaw|first=Wayne|title=Fighting the Devil in Dixie: How Civil Rights Activists Took on the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bI1rzKFsBl4C&pg=PA234|date=January 1, 2011|publisher=Chicago Review Press|isbn=978-1569768259|page=234|access-date=August 15, 2015|archive-date=June 5, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605230055/https://books.google.com/books?id=bI1rzKFsBl4C&pg=PA234#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> issued a preliminary injunction against the Klan, requiring them to cease intimidating, threatening, or harassing the Vietnamese.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70B13FE3F5C0C768DDDAC0894D9484D81|title=Judge Issues Ban on Klan Threat to Vietnamese|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 15, 1981|first=William K.|last= Stevens|access-date=September 18, 2007}}</ref> McDonald eventually found the TER and Beam liable for [[tortious interference]], violations of the [[Sherman Antitrust Act]], and of various civil rights statutes and thus permanently enjoined them against violence, threatening behavior, and other harassment of the Vietnamese shrimpers.<ref name=devil/> The SPLC also uncovered an obscure Texas law "that forbade private armies in that state".<ref name=gitlin/> McDonald found that Beam's organization violated it and hence ordered the TER to close its military training camp.<ref name=gitlin>{{cite book|last=Gitlin|first=Marty|title=The Ku Klux Klan: A Guide to an American Subculture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DJ4YHu0DX0AC&pg=PA41|year=2009|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0313365768|pages=41–42|access-date=August 15, 2015|archive-date=June 5, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605230056/https://books.google.com/books?id=DJ4YHu0DX0AC&pg=PA41|url-status=live}}</ref>

===''Person v. Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan'' (1982)===
In 1982, armed members of the [[Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan]] terrorized Bobby Person, a black prison guard, and members of his family. They harassed and threatened others, including a white woman who had befriended blacks. In 1984, Person became the lead plaintiff in ''Person v. Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan'', a lawsuit brought by the SPLC in the [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina]]. The harassment and threats continued during litigation and the court issued an order prohibiting any person from interfering with others inside the courthouse.<ref name=splcID22>[http://www.splcenter.org/legal/docket/files.jsp?cdrID=22&sortID=3 "Person v. Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060214023452/http://www.splcenter.org/legal/docket/files.jsp?cdrID=22&sortID=3 |date=February 14, 2006 }}, Southern Poverty Law Center website. Retrieved November 21, 2011.</ref> In January 1985, the court issued a [[consent order]] that prohibited the group's "Grand Dragon", [[Frazier Glenn Miller Jr.]], and his followers from operating a paramilitary organization, holding parades in black neighborhoods, and from harassing, threatening or harming any black person or white persons who associated with black persons. Subsequently, the court dismissed the plaintiffs' claim for damages.<ref name=splcID22/>

Within a year, the court found Miller and his followers, now calling themselves the [[White Patriot Party]], in [[criminal contempt]] for violating the consent order. Miller was sentenced to six months in prison followed by a three-year probationary period, during which he was banned from associating with members of any racist group such as the White Patriot Party. Miller refused to obey the terms of his probation. He made underground "declarations of war" against Jews and the federal government before being arrested again. Found guilty of weapons violations, he went to federal prison for three years.<ref name="SPLC_2008_Report">{{cite report |title=Fighting hate in the courtroom |work=SPLC|series=Special Issue |volume= 38 |number=4 |date=Winter 2008}}</ref>{{rp|4}}<ref name=gm5yr>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19880105&id=ptdOAAAAIBAJ&pg=6561,1355411|access-date=May 15, 2017|newspaper=[[Wilmington Morning Star]]|date=January 5, 1988|title=Supremacist Glenn Miller gets five years in prison|archive-date=February 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214215433/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19880105&id=ptdOAAAAIBAJ&pg=6561%2C1355411|url-status=live}}</ref>

===United Klans of America===
In 1987, Dees and [[Michael Figures]] won a case against the [[United Klans of America]] for the [[lynching of Michael Donald]], a black teenager in [[Mobile, Alabama]].<ref name="UKA1987Times">{{Cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/58240562.html?dids=58240562:58240562&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+13%2C+1987&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=2&desc=The+Nation+Klan+Must+Pay+%247+Million|title=The Nation Klan Must Pay $7 Million|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=February 13, 1987|access-date=September 18, 2007|archive-date=October 1, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001064509/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/58240562.html?dids=58240562:58240562&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+13,+1987&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=2&desc=The+Nation+Klan+Must+Pay+$7+Million|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://capitalbnews.org/shomari-figures-voices-of-change/ |title=His Father Bankrupted the Klan. He Wants to Keep Fighting for Racial Justice in Congress |date=January 22, 2024 |access-date=April 13, 2024 |archive-date=March 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240327120017/http://capitalbnews.org/shomari-figures-voices-of-change/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The SPLC used an unprecedented legal strategy of holding an organization responsible for the crimes of individual members to help produce a $7&nbsp;million judgment for the victim's mother.<ref name="UKA1987Times"/> The verdict forced United Klans of America into [[bankruptcy]]. Its national headquarters was sold for approximately $52,000 to help satisfy the judgment.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/06/us/klan-member-put-to-death-in-race-death.html|work=The New York Times|agency=AP|title=Klan Member Put to Death In Race Death|date=June 6, 1997|access-date=May 15, 2017|archive-date=October 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015053956/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/06/us/klan-member-put-to-death-in-race-death.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1987, five members of a Klan offshoot, the [[White Patriot Party]], were indicted for stealing military weaponry and plotting to kill Dees.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F4071EF73E580C7A8CDDA80894DF484D81|title=Five Tied to Klan Indicted on Arms Charges|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 9, 1987|access-date=September 18, 2007}}</ref> The SPLC has since successfully used this precedent to force numerous Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups into bankruptcy.<ref name=TFC>{{cite book|last1=Wade|first1=Wyn Craig|title=The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America|date=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0195123579|oclc=38014230|page=vii|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6O_XYBMhNYAC&q=splc+united+klans+of+America&pg=PR7|access-date=March 14, 2021|archive-date=June 5, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605231104/https://books.google.com/books?id=6O_XYBMhNYAC&q=splc+united+klans+of+America&pg=PR7#v=snippet&q=splc%20united%20klans%20of%20America&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[Image:Civil Rights Memorial fountain.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Civil Rights Memorial]] in Montgomery]]

===White Aryan Resistance===
On November 13, 1988, in [[Portland, Oregon]], three white supremacist members of East Side White Pride and [[White Aryan Resistance]] (WAR) fatally assaulted [[Mulugeta Seraw]], an [[Ethiopia]]n man who came to the United States to attend college.<ref>{{Cite news| title=Lawyer makes racists pay|work=[[USA Today]]|date=October 24, 1990}}</ref> In October 1990, the SPLC won a civil case on behalf of Seraw's family against WAR's operator [[Tom Metzger (white supremacist)|Tom Metzger]] and his son, John, for a total of $12.5&nbsp;million.<ref>The jury divided the judgment as follows: Kyle Brewster, $500,000; Ken Mieske, $500,000; John Metzger, $1 million; WAR, $3 million; Tom Metzger, $5 million; in addition, $2.5 million was awarded for Mulugeta's unrealized future earnings and pain and suffering.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30613FD34540C758EDDA90994D8494D81|title=Sending a $12.5 Million Message to a Hate Group|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 26, 1990|first=Robb|last=London|access-date=September 18, 2007|archive-date=October 22, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022122753/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/26/news/sending-a-12.5-million-message-to-a-hate-group.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Metzgers declared bankruptcy, and WAR went out of business. The cost of work for the trial was absorbed by the [[Anti-Defamation League]] (ADL) as well as the SPLC.{{sfnp|Dees|Fiffer|1993|p=277}} {{As of|2007|8}}, Metzger still makes payments to Seraw's family.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Nealon, Sean|url=http://www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_D_hate25.3563952.html |title=Hate-crime case award will be hard to collect, experts say |work=[[The Press-Enterprise (California)|The Press-Enterprise]] |date=August 24, 2007 |access-date=May 15, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926215522/http://www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_D_hate25.3563952.html |archive-date=September 26, 2007 }}</ref>{{Update inline|reason=What has happened in the last 10 years?|date=March 2017}}

===Church of the Creator===
In May 1991, Harold Mansfield, a black [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] war veteran, was murdered by George Loeb, a member of the neo-Nazi "Church of the Creator" (now called the [[Creativity Movement]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.adl.org/learn/ext_us/wcotc.html|title=Archive – Creativity Movement|date=April 6, 2005|website=archive.adl.org|publisher=Anti-Defamation League|access-date=November 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161121170547/http://archive.adl.org/learn/ext_us/wcotc.html|archive-date=November 21, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> SPLC represented the victim's family in a civil case and won a judgment of $1&nbsp;million from the church in March 1994.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.splcenter.org/legal/docket/files.jsp?cdrID=28 |title=Mansfield v. Church of the Creator |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=August 17, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713062652/http://www.splcenter.org/legal/docket/files.jsp?cdrID=28 |archive-date=July 13, 2007  }}</ref> The church transferred ownership to [[William Luther Pierce|William Pierce]], head of the [[National Alliance (United States)|National Alliance]], to avoid paying money to Mansfield's heirs.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Danger Extremism: The Major Vehicles and Voices on America's Far-Right Fringe|date=June 1, 1996|publisher=Anti Defamation League of Bnai|isbn=9780884641698|editor-last=Schwartz|editor-first=Alan M.|edition= First|location=New York, N.Y|language=en}}</ref> The SPLC filed suit against Pierce for his role in the fraudulent scheme and won an $85,000 judgment against him in 1995.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Michael|first=George|date=2006|title=RAHOWA! A History of the World Church of the Creator|journal=Terrorism and Political Violence|volume=18|issue=4|pages=561–583|doi=10.1080/09546550600880633|s2cid=145102528}}</ref><ref name="SPLC-Pierce">{{Cite news|url=http://www.splcenter.org/legal/docket/files.jsp?cdrID=27 |title=Mansfield v. Pierce |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=August 17, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713062638/http://www.splcenter.org/legal/docket/files.jsp?cdrID=27 |archive-date=July 13, 2007  }}</ref> The amount was upheld on appeal and the money was collected prior to Pierce's death in 2002.<ref name="SPLC-Pierce"/>

===Christian Knights of the KKK===
The SPLC won a $37.8&nbsp;million verdict on behalf of [[Macedonia Baptist Church (Clarendon County, South Carolina)|Macedonia Baptist Church]], a 100-year-old black church in [[Manning, South Carolina]], against two Ku Klux Klan chapters and five Klansmen (Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and Invisible Empire, Inc.) in July 1998.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10B14FF3A5D0C768EDDAE0894D0494D81&|title=Klan Must Pay $37 Million for Inciting Church Fire|work=[[The New York Times]]|agency=AP |date= July 25, 1998|access-date=May 15, 2017}}</ref> The money was awarded stemming from arson convictions; these Klan units burned down the historic black church in 1995.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.splcenter.org/legal/docket/files.jsp?cdrID=29 |title=Macedonia v. Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |date=June 7, 1996 |access-date=September 18, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930152516/http://www.splcenter.org/legal/docket/files.jsp?cdrID=29 |archive-date=September 30, 2007  }}</ref> Morris Dees told the press, "If we put the Christian Knights out of business, what's that worth? We don't look at what we can collect. It's what the jury thinks this egregious conduct is worth that matters, along with the message it sends." According to ''[[The Washington Post]]'' the amount is the "largest-ever civil award for damages in a hate crime case."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Clairborne|first1=William|title=Klan Chapters Held Liable in Church Fire|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1998/07/25/klan-chapters-held-liable-in-church-fire/b60f73dd-f17b-4102-8bad-e7bd3f7de10b/|access-date=May 11, 2017|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=July 25, 1998|archive-date=August 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827055053/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1998/07/25/klan-chapters-held-liable-in-church-fire/b60f73dd-f17b-4102-8bad-e7bd3f7de10b/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Aryan Nations===
In September 2000, the SPLC won a $6.3&nbsp;million judgment against [[Aryan Nations]] via an Idaho jury who awarded punitive and compensatory damages to a woman and her son who were attacked by Aryan Nations guards.<ref name="CNNpioneer"/> The lawsuit stemmed from the July 1998 attack when security guards at Aryan Nations compound near [[Hayden Lake, Idaho|Hayden Lake]] in northern Idaho, shot at Victoria Keenan and her son.<ref name="AryanNations">{{Cite news|url=http://www.splcenter.org/legal/docket/files.jsp?cdrID=30&sortID=0 |title=Keenan v. Aryan Nations |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |year=2000 |access-date=August 17, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713093622/http://www.splcenter.org/legal/docket/files.jsp?cdrID=30&sortID=0 |archive-date=July 13, 2007  }}</ref> Bullets struck their car several times, causing the car to crash. An Aryan Nations member held the Keenans at gunpoint.<ref name="AryanNations"/> As a result of the judgment, [[Richard Girnt Butler|Richard Butler]] turned over the {{convert|20|acre|m2|adj=on}} compound to the Keenans, who sold the property to a philanthropist. He donated the land to [[North Idaho College]], which designated the area as a "peace park".<ref name="ButlerObit">{{Cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50D1EF93C540C7A8CDDA00894DC404482|title=Richard G. Butler, 86, Dies; Founder of the Aryan Nations|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 9, 2004|first=Daniel J.|last=Wakin|access-date=August 22, 2007|archive-date=March 28, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328202638/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50D1EF93C540C7A8CDDA00894DC404482|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Ten Commandments monument===
{{See also|Roy Moore#Ten Commandments monument controversy}}
In 2002, the SPLC and the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] filed suit (''[[Glassroth v. Moore]]'') against [[Alabama Supreme Court]] Chief Justice [[Roy Moore]] for placing a display of the [[Ten Commandments]] in the rotunda of the [[Alabama Judicial Building]]. Moore, who had final authority over what decorations were to be placed in the Alabama State Judicial Building's Rotunda, had installed a 5,280&nbsp;pound (2,400&nbsp;kg) [[granite]] block, three feet wide by three feet deep by four feet tall, of the Ten Commandments late at night without the knowledge of any other court justice. After defying several court rulings, Moore was eventually removed from the court and the Supreme Court justices had the monument removed from the building.<ref>Regarding the 10 Commandments controversy see:
* [http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/religion/glsrthmre111802opn.pdf ''Glassroth v. Moore''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060921165217/http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/religion/glsrthmre111802opn.pdf |date=September 21, 2006 }} ([[PDF]]) (M.D. Ala. 2002). 
* {{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/11/13/moore.tencommandments|title=Ten Commandments judge removed from office|work=CNN|date=November 14, 2003|access-date=September 18, 2007|archive-date=September 18, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070918025705/http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/11/13/moore.tencommandments/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===''Leiva v. Ranch Rescue''===

In 2003, the SPLC, the [[Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund]], and local attorneys filed a civil suit, ''Leiva v. Ranch Rescue'', in [[Jim Hogg County, Texas]], against Ranch Rescue, a vigilante paramilitary group and several of its associates, seeking damages for assault and illegal detention of two illegal immigrants caught near the U.S.-Mexico border. In April 2005, SPLC obtained judgments totaling $1 million against Casey James Nethercott, who was then [[Ranch Rescue]]'s leader and the owner of an Arizona ranch, Camp Thunderbird, Joe Sutton, who owned the Hebbronville ranch on which two illegal immigrants has been caught trespassing on March 18, 2003, and Jack Foote, the founder of Ranch Rescue.<ref name="NYT_Pollack_20050819">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/19/us/2-illegal-immigrants-winarizona-ranch-in-court.html|date=August 19, 2005|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 22, 2020|first=Andrew|last=Pollack|title=2 Illegal Immigrants Win Arizona Ranch in Court|archive-date=July 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716210247/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/19/us/2-illegal-immigrants-winarizona-ranch-in-court.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Sutton, who had recruited Ranch Rescue to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border region near his Hebbronville ranch,<ref name="SPLC_2008_Report"/>{{rp|4}} settled with an $100,000 out-of-court settlement.<ref name="NYT_Pollack_20050819"/> According to the ''New York Times'', since neither Nethercott or Foote defended themselves, the "judge issued default judgments of $850,000 against Mr. Nethercott and $500,000 against Mr. Foote.<ref name="NYT_Pollack_20050819"/> Neither men had "substantial assets" so Nethercott's {{convert|70|acre|m2|adj=on}} ranch—Camp Thunderbird—which had also served as Ranch Rescue's headquarters—was seized to pay the judgment and surrendered to the two [[illegal immigrants]] from [[El Salvador]], Edwin Alfredo Mancía Gonzáles and Fátima del Socorro Leiva Medina.<ref name="NYT_Pollack_20050819"/> SPLC staff worked also with Texas prosecutors to obtain a conviction against Nethercott for possession of a gun, which was illegal for a felon.  Nethercott had served time in California for assault previously. As a result, he was sentenced to serve a five-year sentence in a Texas prison.<ref name="SPLC_2008_Report"/>{{rp|4}}<ref name="SPLC_Leiva_20060214">{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060214023115/http://www.splcenter.org/legal/docket/files.jsp?cdrID=44&sortID=3 |date=February 14, 2006 |archive-date=February 14, 2006 |title=Leiva v. Ranch Rescue|access-date=June 22, 2020 |url=http://www.splcenter.org/legal/docket/files.jsp?cdrID=44&sortID=3}}</ref>

===Billy Ray Johnson===
The SPLC brought a civil suit on behalf of Billy Ray Johnson, a black, mentally disabled man, who was severely beaten by four white males in Texas and left bleeding in a ditch, suffering permanent injuries. In 2007, Johnson was awarded $9&nbsp;million in damages by a [[Linden, Texas]] jury.<ref name=TexasMonthlyBRJ>{{Cite news|url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/2007-02-01/feature4.php |title=The Beating of Billy Ray Johnson |work=[[Texas Monthly]] |date=February 2007 |access-date=August 17, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070818031718/http://www.texasmonthly.com/2007-02-01/feature4.php |archive-date=August 18, 2007  }}</ref><ref name="ChicagoTribuneBRJ">Witt, Howard (April 21,
 2007). [http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/eedition/chi-070421johnson-story,0,660367.story $9 million award in beating case] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026061709/http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/eedition/chi-070421johnson-story,0,660367.story |date=October 26, 2012 }} ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', Retrieved May 15, 2017</ref> At a criminal trial, the four men were convicted of assault and received sentences of 30 to 60&nbsp;days in county jail.<ref name="USATodayBRJ">{{Cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-26-texas-town_N.htm|title=A jury's stand against racism reflects hope|work=[[USA Today]]|date=April 26, 2007|first=Laura|last=Parker|access-date=August 17, 2007|archive-date=August 11, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070811132037/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-26-texas-town_N.htm?|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|author= Larowe, Lynn |url=http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/localnews/2007/04/19/ex_jailer_denies_part_in_assault_cover_up.php |title=Ex-jailer denies part in assault cover-up |work=[[Texarkana Gazette]] |date=April 19, 2007 |access-date=May 15, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928101917/http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/localnews/2007/04/19/ex_jailer_denies_part_in_assault_cover_up.php |archive-date=September 28, 2007  }}</ref>

===Imperial Klans of America===
In November 2008, the SPLC's case against the [[Imperial Klans of America]] (IKA), the nation's second-largest Klan organization, went to trial in [[Meade County, Kentucky]].<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna27665247|publisher=[[NBC News]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=November 11, 2008|access-date=May 15, 2017|title=No. 2 Klan group on trial in Ky. teen's beating: Southern Poverty Law Center hopes case will bankrupt hate group|archive-date=October 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004232318/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/27665247/|url-status=live}}</ref> The SPLC had filed suit for damages in July 2007 on behalf of Jordan Gruver and his mother against the IKA in Kentucky. In July 2006, five Klan members went to the Meade County Fairgrounds in [[Brandenburg, Kentucky]], "to hand out business cards and flyers advertising a 'white-only' IKA function". Two members of the Klan started calling Gruver, a 16-year-old boy of Panamanian descent, a "[[spic]]".<ref name="SPLCGruver">{{Cite news|url=http://www.splcenter.org/legal/docket/files.jsp?cdrID=69&sortID=2 |title=Jordan Gruver and Cynthia Gruver vs. Imperial Klans of America |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |date=July 25, 2007 |access-date=September 18, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930185509/http://www.splcenter.org/legal/docket/files.jsp?cdrID=69&sortID=2 |archive-date=September 30, 2007  }}</ref> Subsequently, the boy, ({{convert|5|ft|3|in|m}} and weighing {{convert|150|lb|kg}}) was beaten and kicked by the Klansmen (one of whom was {{convert|6|ft|5|in|m}} and {{convert|300|lb|kg}}). As a result, the victim received "two cracked ribs, a broken left forearm, multiple cuts and bruises and jaw injuries requiring extensive dental repair."<ref name="SPLCGruver"/>

In a related criminal case in February 2007, Jarred Hensley and Andrew Watkins were sentenced to three years in prison for beating Gruver.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> On November 14, 2008, an [[all-white jury]] of seven men and seven women awarded $1.5 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages to the plaintiff against Ron Edwards, Imperial Wizard of the group, and Jarred Hensley, who participated in the attack.<ref>See:
* {{Cite news|author=O'Neill, Ann|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/14/klan.sued.verdict/index.html|title=Jury awards $2.5 million to teen beaten by Klan members|work=CNN|date=November 17, 2008|access-date=May 15, 2017|archive-date=June 5, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605192454/http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/14/klan.sued.verdict/index.html|url-status=live}}
* Note: two other defendants in the civil case, Watkins and Cowles, previously agreed to confidential settlements and were dropped from the suit. Kenning, Chris (November 15, 2008). "$2.5 million awarded in Klan beating", ''[[The Courier-Journal]]'' (Louisville, Kentucky), p. 1.</ref>

===Mississippi correctional institutions===
{{Further|Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility|East Mississippi Correctional Facility}}

Together with the [[American Civil Liberties Union#Positions|ACLU National Prison Project]], the SPLC filed a class-action suit in November 2010 against the owner/operators of the private [[Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility]] in [[Leake County, Mississippi]], and the [[Mississippi Department of Corrections]] (MDC). They charged that conditions, including under-staffing and neglect of medical care, produced numerous and repeated abuses of youthful prisoners, high rates of violence and injury, and that one prisoner suffered brain damage because of inmate-on-inmate attacks.<ref name="profits">{{cite web | last = Burnett | first = John | title = Town Relies On Troubled Youth Prison For Profits | publisher = NPR | date = March 25, 2011 | url = https://www.npr.org/2011/03/25/134850972/town-relies-on-troubled-youth-prison-for-profits | access-date = June 5, 2024 | archive-date = May 14, 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240514203948/https://www.npr.org/2011/03/25/134850972/town-relies-on-troubled-youth-prison-for-profits | url-status = live }}</ref> A federal civil rights investigation was undertaken by the [[United States Department of Justice]]. In settling the suit, Mississippi ended its contract with [[GEO Group]] in 2012. Additionally, under the court decree, the MDC moved the youthful offenders to state-run units. In 2012, Mississippi opened a new youthful offender unit at the [[Central Mississippi Correctional Facility]] in Rankin County.<ref>[http://www.mdoc.ms.gov/News/PressReleases/NewMDOCYouthfulOffenderUnit.pdf "MDOC Opens Youthful Offender Unit"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130231019/http://www.mdoc.ms.gov/News/PressReleases/NewMDOCYouthfulOffenderUnit.pdf |date=January 30, 2016 }}, Press Release, December 12, 2012, Mississippi Dept. of Corrections, Retrieved January 30, 2016</ref> The state also agreed to not subject youthful offenders to [[solitary confinement]] and a court monitor conducted regular reviews of conditions at the facility.<ref name="suit C B Walnut Grove SPLC">[https://www.splcenter.org/seeking-justice/case-docket/cb-et-al-v-walnut-grove-correctional-authority-et-al ''C.B., et al. v. Walnut Grove Correctional Authority, et al.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160221084006/https://www.splcenter.org/seeking-justice/case-docket/cb-et-al-v-walnut-grove-correctional-authority-et-al |date=February 21, 2016 }}, Southern Poverty Law Center</ref>

Also with the [[ACLU]] Prison Project, the SPLC filed a class-action suit in May 2013 against [[Management and Training Corporation]] (MTC), the for-profit operator of the private [[East Mississippi Correctional Facility]], and the MDC.<ref name="goode">{{Cite news
| last = Goode
| first = Erica
| title = Seeing Squalor and Unconcern in a Mississippi Jail
| work = [[The New York Times]]
| access-date = January 8, 2015
| date = June 7, 2014
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/us/seeing-squalor-and-unconcern-in-southern-jail.html?_r=0
| archive-date = January 8, 2015
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150108175845/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/us/seeing-squalor-and-unconcern-in-southern-jail.html?_r=0
| url-status = live
}}</ref> Management and Training Corporation had been awarded a contract for this and two other facilities in Mississippi in 2012 following the removal of GEO Group. The suit charged failure of MTC to make needed improvements, and to maintain proper conditions and treatment for this special needs population of prisoners.<ref name="EMCFsuit">Gabriel Eber (May 30, 2013). [https://www.aclu.org/blog/human-rights-prisoners-rights/new-lawsuit-massive-human-rights-violations-mississippi-prison "New Lawsuit: Massive Human Rights Violations at Mississippi Prison"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325134848/https://www.aclu.org/blog/human-rights-prisoners-rights/new-lawsuit-massive-human-rights-violations-mississippi-prison |date=March 25, 2015 }}, ACLU. Retrieved December 3, 2014.</ref> In 2015 the court granted the plaintiffs' motion for class certification.<ref name="dockery">[https://www.aclu.org/cases/prisoners-rights/dockery-v-epps ''Dockery v. Epps''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170324072826/https://www.aclu.org/cases/prisoners-rights/dockery-v-epps |date=March 24, 2017 }}, updated September 2015, Cases: Prisoners' Rights, ACLU official website; accessed March 7, 2017</ref>{{Update inline|reason=Case No. 3:13-cv-00326-WHB-JCG|date=March 2017}}<!-- Access to the case file via PACER on 5/2/17 shows the case is still in litigation. -->

===Polk County, Florida, sheriff===
In 2012, the SPLC initiated a class action federal lawsuit against the [[Polk County, Florida]], sheriff, Grady Judd, alleging that seven juveniles confined by the sheriff were suffering in improper conditions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.splcenter.org/seeking-justice/case-docket/hughes-et-al-v-sheriff-grady-judd-et-al|title=Hughes, et al. v. Sheriff Grady Judd, et al.|website=Southern Poverty Law Center|language=en|access-date=2019-05-31|archive-date=March 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306132202/https://www.splcenter.org/seeking-justice/case-docket/hughes-et-al-v-sheriff-grady-judd-et-al|url-status=live}}</ref> U.S. district court judge [[Steven D. Merryday]] found in favor of Judd, who said the SPLC's allegations "were not supported by the facts or court precedence {{sic}}."<ref>{{cite news|title=Judge rules in favot of Polk in juvenile detainee case|url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-ap-polk-sheriff-southern-poverty-law-20150416-story.html|access-date=March 5, 2017|work=[[Orlando Sentinel]]|agency=Associated Press|date=April 16, 2015|location=Bartow, Florida|archive-date=March 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306134347/http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-ap-polk-sheriff-southern-poverty-law-20150416-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The judge wrote that "the conditions of juvenile detention at (Central County Jail) are not consistent with (Southern Poverty's) dark, grim, and condemning portrayal."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Schottelkotte|first1=Suzie|title=Southern Poverty Law Center Rebuked: Court Rejects SPLC's Allegations About Jail|url=http://www.theledger.com/news/20150416/southern-poverty-law-center-rebuked-court-rejects-splcs-allegations-about-jail|access-date=March 5, 2017|work=[[The Ledger]]|location=Tampa, Florida|date=April 16, 2015|archive-date=September 4, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240904062505/https://www.theledger.com/story/news/2015/04/16/southern-poverty-law-center-rebuked-court-rejects-splcs-allegations-about-jail/27046796007/|url-status=live}}</ref> While the county sheriff's department did not recover an estimated $1 million in attorney's fees defending the case, Judge Merryday did award $103,000 in court costs to Polk County.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Schottelkotte|first1=Suzie|title=Polk County Sheriff's Office won't recover $1 million in legal fees from Southern Poverty Law Center lawsuit|url=http://www.theledger.com/news/20150930/polk-county-sheriffs-office-wont-recover-1-million-in-legal-fees-from-southern-poverty-law-center-lawsuit|access-date=March 5, 2017|work=[[The Ledger]]|date=September 30, 2015|location=Bartow, Florida|archive-date=March 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306131103/http://www.theledger.com/news/20150930/polk-county-sheriffs-office-wont-recover-1-million-in-legal-fees-from-southern-poverty-law-center-lawsuit|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Andrew Anglin and ''The Daily Stormer''===
In April 2017, the SPLC filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Tanya Gersh, accusing [[Andrew Anglin]], publisher of the white supremacist website ''[[The Daily Stormer]]'', of instigating an anti-Semitic harassment campaign against Gersh, a [[Whitefish, Montana]], real estate agent.<ref name=TPMAnglin>Kirkland, Allegra (April 18, 2017). [http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/splc-files-lawsuit-andrew-anglin-anti-semitic-harassment "Lawsuit: Neo-Nazi Led Anti-Semitic Harassment Campaign Against Montana Woman"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822184147/https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/splc-files-lawsuit-andrew-anglin-anti-semitic-harassment |date=August 22, 2021 }}. ''[[Talking Points Memo]]''. Retrieved May 16, 2017</ref><ref name=TheVergeAnglin>Robertson, Adi (April 17, 2018). [https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/18/15341368/splc-tanya-gersh-andrew-anglin-daily-stormer-harassment-lawsuit "White supremacist website hit with lawsuit over harassment campaign"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822182638/https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/18/15341368/splc-tanya-gersh-andrew-anglin-daily-stormer-harassment-lawsuit |date=August 22, 2021 }}. ''[[The Verge]]'', Retrieved May 15, 2017</ref> In July 2019, a judge issued a 14 million dollar [[default judgment]] against Anglin, who is in hiding and has refused to appear in court.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Storey |first1=Kate |title=Tanya Gersh Was the Target of a Neo-Nazi 'Troll Storm.' Then She Fought Back—and Was Awarded $14 Million. |url=https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a28797463/tanya-gersh-daily-stormer-andrew-anglin-neo-nazi-troll-storm-14-million/ |access-date=September 17, 2019 |work=Esquire |date=August 29, 2019 |archive-date=September 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904033238/https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a28797463/tanya-gersh-daily-stormer-andrew-anglin-neo-nazi-troll-storm-14-million/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Neo-Nazi website founder owes $14 million to woman he urged readers to harass |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/neo-nazi-website-founder-owes-14-million-woman-he-urged-n1040671 |access-date=September 17, 2019 |work=NBC News |agency=Associated Press |date=August 9, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=August 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814133633/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/neo-nazi-website-founder-owes-14-million-woman-he-urged-n1040671 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=O'Brien |first1=Luke |title=Neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin's Lawyers Want To Ditch Him In High-Profile Harassment Case |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/neo-nazi-andrew-anglins-lawyers-want-out-of-high-profile-harassment-case_n_5cc119e1e4b01b6b3efc7408 |access-date=September 17, 2019 |work=HuffPost |date=April 25, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=September 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190916192323/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/neo-nazi-andrew-anglins-lawyers-want-out-of-high-profile-harassment-case_n_5cc119e1e4b01b6b3efc7408 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Lawsuits against and criticism of the SPLC==

In October 2014, the SPLC added [[Ben Carson]] to its extremist watch list, citing his association with groups it considers extreme, and his "linking of gays with pedophiles".<ref name=Wong>{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/09/ben-carson-anti-gay-extremist-_n_6646994.html|title=GOP Presidential Hopeful Ben Carson Named To Southern Poverty Law Center's Anti-Gay Extremist List|work=The Huffington Post|date=February 9, 2015|access-date=April 20, 2017|author=Wong, Curtis M.|archive-date=February 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160227071102/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/09/ben-carson-anti-gay-extremist-_n_6646994.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Following criticism, the SPLC concluded its profile of Carson did not meet its standards, removed his listing, and apologized to him in February 2015.<ref>See:
* {{cite news |url=https://secure.splcenter.org/get-informed/news/splc-statement-on-dr-ben-carson |title=SPLC statement on Dr. Ben Carson |date=February 11, 2015 |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=April 25, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212180024/https://secure.splcenter.org/get-informed/news/splc-statement-on-dr-ben-carson |archive-date=February 12, 2015 |quote=In October 2014, we posted an 'Extremist File' of Dr. Ben Carson... This week, as we've come under intense criticism for doing so, we've reviewed our profile and have concluded that it did not meet our standards, so we have taken it down and apologize to Dr. Carson for having posted it. }}
* {{cite news |title=Southern Poverty Law Center apologizes to Ben Carson, takes him off 'extremist' list |url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/02/12/southern-poverty-law-center-apologizes-to-ben-carson-takes-him-off-extremist |work=Fox News |date=February 12, 2015 |access-date=February 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212194232/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/02/12/southern-poverty-law-center-apologizes-to-ben-carson-takes-him-off-extremist/ |archive-date=February 12, 2015 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

In October 2016, the SPLC published its "Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists",<ref name="Field Guide">{{cite web |title=A Journalist's Manual: Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists |url=https://www.splcenter.org/20161025/journalists-manual-field-guide-anti-muslim-extremists |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109085812/https://www.splcenter.org/20161025/journalists-manual-field-guide-anti-muslim-extremists |archive-date=November 9, 2016 |location=Montgomery, Ala. |date=October 25, 2016}}</ref> which listed the British activist [[Maajid Nawaz]] and a nonprofit group he founded, the [[Quilliam Foundation]].<ref name="Graham"/><ref name="Walsh">{{cite news |author=Walsh, Michael |title=SPLC receives backlash after placing activist Maajid Nawaz on 'anti-Muslim extremist' list |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/splc-receives-backlash-after-placing-activist-maajid-nawaz-on-anti-muslim-extremist-list-201918193.html |access-date=May 15, 2017 |work=Yahoo! News |date=October 31, 2016 |archive-date=March 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328080920/https://www.yahoo.com/news/splc-receives-backlash-after-placing-activist-maajid-nawaz-on-anti-muslim-extremist-list-201918193.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Nawaz, who identifies as a "liberal, reform Muslim", denounced the listing as a "smear",<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/29/i-m-a-muslim-reformer-why-am-i-being-smeared-as-an-anti-muslim-extremist.html |title=I'm A Muslim Reformer. Why Am I Being Smeared as an 'Anti-Muslim Extremist'? |author=Maajid Nawaz |date=October 29, 2016 |newspaper=The Daily Beast |access-date=October 30, 2016 |archive-date=March 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240312085915/https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/29/i-m-a-muslim-reformer-why-am-i-being-smeared-as-an-anti-muslim-extremist.html |url-status=live }}</ref> saying that the SPLC listing had made him a target of [[jihadists]].<ref>[http://video.foxnews.com/v/5484070480001/ Nawaz: Southern Poverty Law Center put a target on my head] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630112257/https://video.foxnews.com/v/5484070480001/ |date=June 30, 2022 }}, [[Fox News]], June 26, 2017</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlAw7qYLk5w Maajid Nawaz Interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602131023/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlAw7qYLk5w |date=June 2, 2024 }} [[Real Time with Bill Maher]] ([[HBO]])</ref> In June 2018, the SPLC issued an apology, stating:

{{blockquote |Given our understanding of the views of Mr. Nawaz and Quilliam, it was our opinion at the time that the ''Field Guide'' was published that their inclusion was warranted. But after getting a deeper understanding of their views and after hearing from others for whom we have great respect, we realize that we were simply wrong to have included Mr. Nawaz and Quilliam in the ''Field Guide'' in the first place.<ref name="Cohen 2018"/>}}

Along with the apology, the SPLC paid US$3.375 million to Nawaz and the Quilliam Foundation in a settlement.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Price |first1=Greg |title=Southern Poverty Law Center Settles Lawsuit After Falsely Labeling 'Extremist' Organization |url=http://www.newsweek.com/splc-nawaz-million-apologizes-981879 |access-date=June 19, 2018 |work=Newsweek |date=June 18, 2018 |archive-date=June 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618210709/http://www.newsweek.com/splc-nawaz-million-apologizes-981879 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Cohen 2018">{{cite web |first=Richard |last=Cohen |title=SPLC Statement Regarding Maajid Nawaz and the Quilliam Foundation |url=https://www.splcenter.org/news/2018/06/18/splc-statement-regarding-maajid-nawaz-and-quilliam-foundation |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |date=June 18, 2018 |access-date=June 18, 2018 |archive-date=June 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618150811/https://www.splcenter.org/news/2018/06/18/splc-statement-regarding-maajid-nawaz-and-quilliam-foundation |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Graham |first1=David |title=The Unlabelling of an 'Anti-Muslim Extremist' |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/06/maajid-nawaz-v-splc/562646/ |access-date=August 20, 2019 |work=The Atlantic |date=June 18, 2018 |archive-date=June 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629022912/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/06/maajid-nawaz-v-splc/562646/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Nawaz said about the settlement that Quilliam "will continue to combat extremists by defying Muslim stereotypes, calling out fundamentalism in our own communities, and speaking out against anti-Muslim hate."<ref>[https://www.quilliaminternational.com/southern-poverty-law-center-inc-admits-it-was-wrong/ "Southern Poverty Law Center, Inc. Admits It Was Wrong, Apologizes to Quilliam and Maajid Nawaz for Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists, and Agrees to Pay $3.375 Million Settlement"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618232806/https://www.quilliaminternational.com/southern-poverty-law-center-inc-admits-it-was-wrong/ |date=June 18, 2018 }}, Quilliam website</ref><ref name=ALcomSettlement>[https://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2018/06/splc_to_pay_3_million_to_briti.html SPLC to pay $3.4 million to British group it called anti-Muslim extremists] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619021648/https://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2018/06/splc_to_pay_3_million_to_briti.html |date=June 19, 2018 }}. [[Associated Press]], June 18, 2018</ref> The SPLC ultimately removed the ''Field Guide'' from its website.<ref name="Graham"/>

In August 2017, a [[defamation]] lawsuit was filed against the SPLC by the [[D. James Kennedy]] Ministries for describing it as an "active hate group" because of their views on LGBT rights.<ref name=sun-sentinel>{{cite news|url=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fort-lauderdale/fl-reg-ministry-labeled-hate-group-challenges-splc-20170824-story.html|publisher=Sun Sentinel|title=Fort Lauderdale's D. James Kennedy Ministries sues over being labeled 'hate group'|author=Anthony Man|date=August 24, 2017|access-date=June 5, 2024|archive-date=April 10, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410164917/https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fort-lauderdale/fl-reg-ministry-labeled-hate-group-challenges-splc-20170824-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=kansas-city-star>{{cite news|url=http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation-world/article169654672.html|publisher=Kansan City Star|title=Christian ministry labeled as a hate group is suing SPLC to 'right a terrible wrong'|author=Darby, Adam|date=August 27, 2017|access-date=June 5, 2024|archive-date=February 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214215505/https://www.kansascity.com/news/nation-world/article169654672.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/us/southern-poverty-law-center-hate-group-label-hit-in-evangelicals-lawsuit Southern Poverty Law Center 'hate group' label hit in evangelicals' lawsuit]  by Elizabeth Llorente, [[Fox News]], August 24, 2017</ref> The SPLC lists D. James Kennedy Ministries and its predecessor, Truth in Action, as anti-LGBT hate groups because of what the SPLC describes as the group's history of spreading [[homophobic propaganda]], including D. James Kennedy's false statement that "homosexuals prey on adolescent boys", and false claims about the transmission of [[AIDS]].<ref name=ThinkProgressKennedy>[https://thinkprogress.org/focus-on-the-family-south-africa-aids-grant-purity-pledges-ae8ff7ca0815/ The Trump administration is paying Focus on the Family to stop the AIDS epidemic in South Africa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190909130201/https://thinkprogress.org/focus-on-the-family-south-africa-aids-grant-purity-pledges-ae8ff7ca0815/ |date=September 9, 2019 }}. [[ThinkProgress]], April 18, 2018</ref><ref name="SPLC_Kennedy_2005">{{cite web |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2005/dozen-major-groups-help-drive-religious-right%E2%80%99s-anti-gay-crusade#7 |title=A Dozen Major Groups Help Drive the Religious Right's Anti-Gay Crusade |work=Southern Poverty Law Center |date=2005 |access-date=June 5, 2024 |archive-date=December 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141208141311/http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2005/spring/a-mighty-army#7 |url-status=live }}</ref> On February 21, 2018, a federal magistrate judge recommended that the suit be dismissed with prejudice, concluding that D. James Kennedy Ministries could not show that it had been libeled.<ref name=CourtDocket>[https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.almd.64434/gov.uscourts.almd.64434.57.0.pdf Report and Recommendation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221220658/https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.almd.64434/gov.uscourts.almd.64434.57.0.pdf |date=February 21, 2018 }}. United States Magistrate Judge David A. Baker, [[United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama]]. February 21, 2018</ref> On September 19, 2019, the lawsuit was dismissed by Judge [[Myron H. Thompson]], who ruled that the "SPLC's labeling of the group as [a hate group] is protected by the First Amendment."<ref name=MDALDismissed>[https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.almd.64434/gov.uscourts.almd.64434.68.0.pdf CORAL RIDGE MINISTRIES MEDIA INC. V. AMAZON.COM, INC., et al.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024061325/https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.almd.64434/gov.uscourts.almd.64434.68.0.pdf |date=October 24, 2019 }} [[United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama]], September 19, 2019</ref>

In March 2018, several journalists, including [[Max Blumenthal]], were mentioned in an article by [[Alexander Reid Ross]] which the SPLC retracted after receiving complaints from those journalists that the article falsely portrayed them as "white supremacists, fascists, anti-Semites, and engaging in a conspiracy with the Putin regime to promote such views"; the Center's letter explaining its retraction of the article apologizing to Blumenthal and the other journalists who believed they had been falsely portrayed.<ref name="Flood">{{cite web |last1=Flood |first1=Brian |title=Southern Poverty Law Center apologizes after painting journalists as fascists in retracted article |url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/southern-poverty-law-center-apologizes-after-painting-journalists-as-fascists-in-retracted-article |website=Foxnews |access-date=16 March 2018 |date=March 16, 2018 |archive-date=May 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511200133/https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/southern-poverty-law-center-apologizes-after-painting-journalists-as-fascists-in-retracted-article |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| date=March 14, 2018| title=Explanation and apology: The multipolar spin: how fascists operationalize left-wing resentment| url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/03/09/update-multipolar-spin-how-fascists-operationalize-left-wing-resentment| website=Southern Poverty Law Center| access-date=July 29, 2019| archive-date=August 16, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190816033330/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/03/09/update-multipolar-spin-how-fascists-operationalize-left-wing-resentment| url-status=live}}</ref> The SPLC was criticized for taking down this article and was accused of caving in to pressure. The article argued that the dissemination of conspiracy theories around such issues as the [[Syrian Civil War]] (about the [[White Helmets (Syrian Civil War)|White Helmets]] and child refugees) were intended to co-opt leftist anti-imperialism in the service of a fascist agenda.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ansari|first=Talal|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/talalansari/southern-poverty-law-center-removes-article|title=The Southern Poverty Law Center Took Down An Article Trying To Connect 'Left-Wing' People And 'Fascists' After Getting Complaints|work=Buzzfeed News|date=March 12, 2018|access-date=January 19, 2020|archive-date=December 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205223020/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/talalansari/southern-poverty-law-center-removes-article|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Davis|first=Charles|url=https://newpol.org/inside-look-how-prorussia-trolls-got-splc-censor-commie/|title=An Inside Look at How Pro-Russia Trolls Got the SPLC to Censor a Commie|work=New Politics|date=April 3, 2018|access-date=January 19, 2020|archive-date=March 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303213743/https://newpol.org/inside-look-how-prorussia-trolls-got-splc-censor-commie/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marquardt-Bigman|first=Petra|url=https://www.algemeiner.com/2018/04/11/max-blumenthal-unwittingly-exposes-the-southern-poverty-law-centers-blind-spot-on-antisemitism/|title=Max Blumenthal Unwittingly Exposes the Southern Poverty Law Center's Blind Spot on Antisemitism|work=The Algemeiner|date=April 11, 2018|access-date=January 19, 2020|archive-date=August 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814062439/https://www.algemeiner.com/2018/04/11/max-blumenthal-unwittingly-exposes-the-southern-poverty-law-centers-blind-spot-on-antisemitism/|url-status=live}}</ref> Subsequently, the SPLC retracted two other articles written by Alexander Reid Ross on the topic of Russian campaigns to influence Western public opinion.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://newpol.org/max-blumenthal-and-streisand-effect|title=Max Blumenthal and the Streisand Effect|date=March 14, 2018|last=Proyect|first=Louis|access-date=March 11, 2021|archive-date=February 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225205905/https://newpol.org/max-blumenthal-and-streisand-effect/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/02/21/hatewatch|title=The Internet Research Agency: behind the shadowy network that meddled in the 2016 Elections|website=Southern Poverty Law Center|access-date=March 11, 2021|date=February 21, 2018|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506092950/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/02/21/hatewatch|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2019, the [[Center for Immigration Studies]] (CIS) sued the SPLC for designating the CIS as a hate group, claiming it constituted fraud under the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act]] (RICO).<ref name="Bixby">{{cite news |work=Daily Beast |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/anti-immigration-group-files-rico-suit-against-southern-poverty-law-center-over-hate-group-label |title=Anti-Immigration Group Files RICO Suit Against Southern Poverty Law Center Over 'Hate Group' Label |last=Bixby |first=Scott |date=January 16, 2019 |access-date=May 9, 2019 |archive-date=April 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408123053/https://www.thedailybeast.com/anti-immigration-group-files-rico-suit-against-southern-poverty-law-center-over-hate-group-label |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Dinan">{{cite news |last1=Dinan |first1=Stephen |title=Immigration group files RICO lawsuit over Southern Poverty Law Center 'hate' label |url=https://www.apnews.com/558daf4bcbf56e6f015be0d086001774 |work=Associated Press |date=January 16, 2019 |access-date=July 8, 2019 |archive-date=July 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708110457/https://www.apnews.com/558daf4bcbf56e6f015be0d086001774 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The SPLC defended its decision and said the group "richly deserved" the designation.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} Cornell law professor [[William A. Jacobson]], a longtime critic of the SPLC, criticized the listing of the CIS as "pos[ing] a danger of being exploited as an excuse to silence speech and to skew political debate."<ref>{{cite web |title=Is the Center for Immigration Studies a 'hate group' ? |url=https://www.politifact.com/florida/article/2017/mar/22/center-immigration-studies-hate-group-southern-pov/ |website=PolitiFact Florida |language=en |access-date=July 8, 2019 |archive-date=November 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115081646/https://www.politifact.com/florida/article/2017/mar/22/center-immigration-studies-hate-group-southern-pov/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The lawsuit was dismissed in September 2019 for failure to state a claim; Judge [[Amy Berman Jackson]] ruled that the CIS could not show any violations of the RICO statute.<ref name=CourtOpinion>{{Cite web|url = https://www.usatoday.com/documents/6409318-Memorandum-Opinion/|title = Memorandum & Opinion|website = [[USA Today]]|access-date = September 14, 2019|archive-date = September 15, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190915145012/https://www.usatoday.com/documents/6409318-Memorandum-Opinion/|url-status = live}}</ref>

In February 2019, several months after resigning as chairman of the [[Proud Boys]], [[Gavin McInnes]] filed a defamation lawsuit against the SPLC.<ref name="guardiangesture">{{cite news|title=Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes quits 'extremist' far-right group|author=Wilson, Jason|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/22/proud-boys-founder-gavin-mcinnes-quits-far-right-group|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=21 November 2018|access-date=22 November 2018|archive-date=November 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181124020545/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/22/proud-boys-founder-gavin-mcinnes-quits-far-right-group|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="heavygesture">{{cite news |last1=Prengel |first1=Kate |title=Gavin McInnes Says He Is Quitting the Proud Boys [VIDEO] |url=https://heavy.com/news/2018/11/gavin-mcinnes-quits-proud-boys-video/ |work=Heavy.com |date=21 November 2018 |access-date=December 26, 2020 |archive-date=November 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122052102/https://heavy.com/news/2018/11/gavin-mcinnes-quits-proud-boys-video/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Alabama over the SPLC's designation of the Proud Boys as a "general hate" group.<ref name="suit AP Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes">[[Associated Press]] (February 4, 2019). [https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/proud-boys-founder-gavin-mcinnes-sues-southern-poverty-law-center-n966701 "Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes sues Southern Poverty Law Center over hate group label"]. [[NBC News]]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204204937/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/proud-boys-founder-gavin-mcinnes-sues-southern-poverty-law-center-n966701|date=February 4, 2019}}. Retrieved October 6, 2020.</ref><ref name=nprsuit>Kennedy, Merrit (February 5, 2019). [https://www.npr.org/2019/02/05/691643824/proud-boys-founder-files-defamation-lawsuit-against-southern-poverty-law-center "Proud Boys Founder Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Southern Poverty Law Center"]. [[NPR]]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190206020859/https://www.npr.org/2019/02/05/691643824/proud-boys-founder-files-defamation-lawsuit-against-southern-poverty-law-center|date=February 6, 2019}} Retrieved October 7, 2020.</ref> The SPLC took the lawsuit "as a compliment" and an indication that "we're doing our job."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Trotta |first=Daniel |title=The founder of the far-right group Proud Boys is suing the Southern Poverty Law Center for labeling his organization a hate group |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/proud-boys-founder-suing-southern-poverty-law-center-2019-2 |access-date=2020-10-10 |archive-date=October 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201005030307/https://www.businessinsider.com/proud-boys-founder-suing-southern-poverty-law-center-2019-2 |url-status=live }}</ref> On its website, SPLC said that "McInnes plays a duplicitous rhetorical game: rejecting [[white nationalism]] and, in particular, the term '[[alt-right]]' while espousing some of its central tenets" and that the group's "rank-and-file [members] and leaders regularly spout white nationalist memes and maintain affiliations with known extremists. They are known for anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric. Proud Boys have appeared alongside other hate groups at extremist gatherings like the [[Unite the Right rally]] in Charlottesville."<ref name="splc">{{cite news|author=<!--Not stated-->|date=|url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys|title=Proud Boys|publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center|access-date=December 26, 2020|archive-date=October 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016093217/https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theskanner.com/news/newsbriefs/27253-37-organizations-and-a-regional-organization-representing-over-50-tribes-denounce-bigotry-and-violence-before-patriot-prayer-and-proud-boys-rally-in-portland-on-august-4 |title=37 Organizations and a Regional Organization Representing Over 50 Tribes Denounce Bigotry and Violence before Patriot Prayer and Proud Boys Rally in Portland on August 4 |date=3 August 2018 |publisher=[[The Skanner]] |access-date=December 26, 2020 |archive-date=November 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105230312/https://www.theskanner.com/news/newsbriefs/27253-37-organizations-and-a-regional-organization-representing-over-50-tribes-denounce-bigotry-and-violence-before-patriot-prayer-and-proud-boys-rally-in-portland-on-august-4 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=nprsuit/> In addition to defamation, McInnes claimed [[tortious interference]] with economic advantage, "false light invasion of privacy" and "aiding and abetting employment discrimination".<ref name=CHN>{{cite web|url=https://www.courthousenews.com/proud-boys-founder-sues-over-hate-group-label/|work=[[Courthouse News Service]]|title=Proud Boys Founder Sues Over Hate-Group Label|last=Jackson|first=Daniel|date=February 2, 2019|access-date=May 30, 2019|archive-date=May 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530211600/https://www.courthousenews.com/proud-boys-founder-sues-over-hate-group-label/|url-status=live}}</ref> The day after filing the suit, McInnes announced that he had been re-hired by the Canadian far-right media group [[The Rebel Media]].<ref name="mediaite_2019-02-05">{{cite news|author=McLaughlin, Aidan|url=https://www.mediaite.com/online/gavin-mcinnes-hired-by-conservative-canadian-network-rebel-media/|title=Gavin McInnes Hired By Conservative Canadian Network Rebel Media|newspaper=[[Mediaite]]|access-date=February 5, 2019|date=February 5, 2019|archive-date=February 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207015203/https://www.mediaite.com/online/gavin-mcinnes-hired-by-conservative-canadian-network-rebel-media/|url-status=live}}</ref> The SPLC filed a [[motion to dismiss]] the lawsuit in July 2019.<ref>Cushing, Tim (July 11, 2019). [https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190706/14303042525/splc-asks-court-to-toss-proud-boy-founders-defamation-lawsuit-asking-wheres-lie.shtml "SPLC Asks Court To Toss Proud Boy Founder's Defamation Lawsuit By Asking 'Where's The Lie?{{'"}}]. ''TechDirt''. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117200257/https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190706/14303042525/splc-asks-court-to-toss-proud-boy-founders-defamation-lawsuit-asking-wheres-lie.shtml|date=November 17, 2019}}. Retrieved October 7, 2020.</ref>

==Projects and publishing platforms==

===Hate Map===
{{main|List of organizations designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as hate groups|List of organizations designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as anti-LGBTQ hate groups}}

In 1990, the SPLC began to publish an "annual census of hate groups operating within the United States".<ref name="SPLC_hatemap_intro">{{Cite web| title = Hate Map| work = Southern Poverty Law Center| access-date = June 22, 2020| url = https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map| archive-date = March 6, 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230306154650/https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map| url-status = live}}</ref>

====Classifications and listings of hate groups====

Over the years the classifications and listings of hate groups expanded to reflect current social phenomena. By the 2000s, the term "hate groups" included organizations it has assessed either "attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics". The SPLC says that hate group activities may include speeches, marches, rallies, meetings, publishing, and leafleting. While some of these activities may include criminal acts, such as violence, not all the activities tracked by the SPLC are illegal or criminal.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Blazak, Randy|editor1-last=Perry|editor1-first=Barbara|editor2-last=Levin|editor2-first=Brian|title=Hate Crimes: Volume 1, Understanding and Defining Hate Crimes|date=2009|publisher=Praeger|location=Westport, Connecticut|isbn=978-0275995737|pages=133, 143|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M7p6TDR1zwcC&q=british%7CAnglo+Israelism+tenets&pg=PA133|chapter=Chapter 8: Towards a Working Definition of Hate Groups|access-date=March 14, 2021|archive-date=June 5, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605231106/https://books.google.com/books?id=M7p6TDR1zwcC&q=british%7CAnglo+Israelism+tenets&pg=PA133|url-status=live}}</ref>

Groups that have been included as "hate groups" by the SPLC who reject that labelling include, for example, self-described [[Men's rights movement|men's rights groups]] [[A Voice for Men]] and Return of Kings, which the SPLC had described as "male supremacist", according to a 2018 ''Washington Post'' article.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Heim|first1=Joe|title=Hate groups in the U.S. remain on the rise, according to new study|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/hate-groups-in-the-us-remain-on-the-rise-according-to-new-study/2018/02/21/6d28cbe0-1695-11e8-8b08-027a6ccb38eb_story.html|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=February 21, 2018|access-date=May 8, 2018|archive-date=April 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421172054/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/hate-groups-in-the-us-remain-on-the-rise-according-to-new-study/2018/02/21/6d28cbe0-1695-11e8-8b08-027a6ccb38eb_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The SPLC's identification and listings of hate groups and extremists has been the subject of controversy. The authors of the 2009 book ''The White Separatist Movement in the United States'', sociologists Betty A. Dobratz and Stephanie L. Shanks-Meile, who used the findings of the SPLC and other watchdog groups, said that the SPLC chose its causes with funding and donations in mind.<ref name="Dobratz_WhiteSeparatist_2009"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Beinart |first1=Peter |title=A Violent Attack on Free Speech at Middlebury |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/middlebury-free-speech-violence/518667/ |access-date=August 20, 2019 |work=The Atlantic |date=March 6, 2017 |archive-date=December 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201222124148/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/middlebury-free-speech-violence/518667/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Jaschik |first1=Scott |title=The Aftermath at Middlebury |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/03/06/middlebury-engages-soul-searching-after-speech-shouted-down-and-professor-attacked |access-date=August 20, 2019 |work=Inside Higher Ed |date=March 6, 2017 |archive-date=March 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306103535/https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/03/06/middlebury-engages-soul-searching-after-speech-shouted-down-and-professor-attacked |url-status=live }}</ref> Concerns have been raised that people and groups designated as "hate groups" by the SPLC were being targeted by protests or violence that prevent them from speaking. The SPLC stands behind the vast majority of its listings.<ref name=politico>{{cite journal|last1=Schreckinger|first1=Ben|title=Has a Civil Rights Stalwart Lost Its Way?|journal=Politico Magazine|date=July–August 2017|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/06/28/morris-dees-splc-trump-southern-poverty-law-center-215312/|access-date=June 29, 2017|archive-date=July 1, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701044841/https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/06/28/morris-dees-splc-trump-southern-poverty-law-center-215312/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=cnn>{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/16/us/dc-shooting-blame/index.html|work=CNN|title=After D.C. shooting, fingers point over blame|author=Tom Watkins|date=August 17, 2012|access-date=June 5, 2024|archive-date=May 9, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240509161540/https://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/16/us/dc-shooting-blame/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=rcp>{{cite web|url=https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/03/19/the_hate_group_that_incited_the_middlebury_melee_133377.html|publisher=Real Clear Politics|title=The Hate Group That In:cited the Middlebury Melee|author=Carl M. Cannon|date=March 19, 2017|access-date=June 5, 2024|archive-date=October 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021211749/https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/03/19/the_hate_group_that_incited_the_middlebury_melee_133377.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2018, David A. Graham wrote in ''[[The Atlantic]]'' that while criticism of the SPLC had long existed, the sources of such criticism have expanded recently to include "sympathetic observers and fellow researchers on hate groups" concerned about the organization "mixing its research and activist strains".<ref name="Graham" />

[[Laird Wilcox]], an analyst of political fringe movements, has said the SPLC has taken an incautious approach to assigning the labels "hate group" and "extremist".<ref>[[#CITEREFWilcox2002|Wilcox (2002)]], pp. 309–10</ref> SPLC spokesman Mark Potok responded that Wilcox "had an ax to grind for a great many years" and engaged in name calling against others doing anti-racist work.<ref>{{cite news|author-link=Robert Stacy McCain|author-last=McCain|author-first= Robert Stacy|title=Researcher says hate 'fringe' isn't as crowded as claimed| newspaper=[[The Washington Times]]|date= May 9, 2000|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A61963980/ITOF|via=[[Gale OneFile]]}}</ref>

In 2009, the [[Federation for American Immigration Reform]] (FAIR) argued that allies of [[America's Voice (lobby)|America's Voice]] and [[Media Matters]] had used the SPLC designation of FAIR as a hate group to "engage in unsubstantiated, invidious name-calling, smearing millions of people in this movement."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hsu|first1=Spencer S.|title=Immigration, Health Debates Cross Paths|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/14/AR2009091401498.html|access-date=April 18, 2017|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=September 15, 2009|archive-date=April 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406094037/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/14/AR2009091401498.html|url-status=live}}</ref> FAIR and its leadership have been criticized by the SPLC as being sympathetic to, or overtly supportive of, [[White supremacy|white supremacist]] and [[Identitarian movement|identitarian]] ideologies, as the group's late founder had stated his belief that the United States should remain a majority-white country.<ref name=SPLCFAIR>[https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/federation-american-immigration-reform Federation for American Immigration Reform] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007011814/https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/federation-american-immigration-reform |date=October 7, 2022 }}. Southern Poverty Law Center</ref>

In 2010, a group of Republican politicians and conservative organizations criticized the SPLC in full-page advertisements in two Washington, D.C., newspapers for what they described as "[[character assassination]]" because the SPLC had listed the [[Family Research Council]] (FRC) as a hate group for alleged "defaming of gays and lesbians".<ref name="csmonitor.com"/><ref name=SPLCFRC>[https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/family-research-council Extremist Files: Family Research Council] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170506095955/https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/family-research-council |date=May 6, 2017 }}. Southern Poverty Law Center, 2016</ref>

In August 2012, [[Floyd Lee Corkins|a gunman entered the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the Family Research Council]] with the intent to kill employees and smear [[Chick-fil-A]] sandwiches on the victims' faces.<ref name ="chicfila">{{Citation | last =Cratty | first =Carol | title =25-year sentence in Family Research Council shooting | publisher =[[CNN]] | date =September 19, 2013 | url =https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/19/justice/dc-family-research-council-shooting/index.html | access-date =August 26, 2018 | archive-date =August 27, 2018 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20180827012333/https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/19/justice/dc-family-research-council-shooting/index.html | url-status =live }}</ref> The gunman, Floyd Lee Corkins, stated that he chose FRC as a target because it was listed as an anti-gay group on the SPLC's website.<ref name="frcshooting">{{cite web | url =https://www.cnn.com/2013/02/06/justice/dc-family-research-council-shooting/index.html | title =DC shooter wanted to kill as many as possible, prosecutors say | last1 =Cratty | first1 =Carol | last2 =Pearson | first2 =Michael | date =February 7, 2013 | publisher =[[CNN]] | access-date =August 26, 2018 | quote =Corkins -- who had chosen the research council as his target after finding it listed as an anti-gay group on the website of the Southern Poverty Law Center -- had planned to stride into the building and open fire on the people inside in an effort to kill as many as possible, he told investigators, according to the court documents. | archive-date =August 27, 2018 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20180827005323/https://www.cnn.com/2013/02/06/justice/dc-family-research-council-shooting/index.html | url-status =live }}</ref> A security guard was wounded but stopped Corkins from shooting anyone else. In the wake of the shooting, the SPLC was again criticized for listing FRC as an anti-gay hate group, including by liberal columnist [[Dana Milbank]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/22/dana-milbank-washington-post-family-research-council-hate-group_n_1822805.html |author=Signorile, Michelangelo |author-link=Michelangelo Signorile |work=HuffPost Gay Voices |date=August 22, 2012 |access-date=March 28, 2014 |title=Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'' Writer, Slams LGBT Activists, SPLC For FRC's 'Hate Group' Label |archive-date=November 11, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111121314/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/22/dana-milbank-washington-post-family-research-council-hate-group_n_1822805.html |url-status=live }}</ref> while others defended the categorization. The SPLC defended its listing of anti-gay hate groups, stating that the groups were selected not because of their religious views, but on their "propagation of known falsehoods about LGBT people... that have been thoroughly discredited by scientific authorities."<ref>For commentary on the LGBT and FRC issues see:
* {{cite web|author=Allen, Charlotte|date=April 15, 2013|title=King of Fearmongers: Morris Dees and the Southern Poverty Law Center, scaring donors since 1971|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/king-fearmongers_714573.html?page=1|work=Weekly Standard|access-date=March 28, 2014|archive-date=November 5, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105200610/http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/king-fearmongers_714573.html?page=1|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite news|last=Milbank|first=Dana|author-link=Dana Milbank|title=Hateful speech on hate groups|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-hateful-speech-on-hate-groups/2012/08/16/70a60ac6-e7e8-11e1-8487-64e4b2a79ba8_story.html|access-date=March 13, 2014|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=August 6, 2012|archive-date=January 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102100409/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-hateful-speech-on-hate-groups/2012/08/16/70a60ac6-e7e8-11e1-8487-64e4b2a79ba8_story.html|url-status=live}}
* {{cite web|last1=Potok|first1=Mark|title=SPLC Responds to Attack by FRC, Conservative Republicans|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2010/12/15/splc-responds-attack-frc-conservative-republicans|website=SPLC Hatewatch|publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center|access-date=May 6, 2017|date=December 15, 2010|archive-date=June 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626080855/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2010/12/15/splc-responds-attack-frc-conservative-republicans|url-status=live}}
* {{Cite tweet |user=Hatewatch |number=664821215530364928 |date=November 12, 2015 |title=The anti-LGBT hate group Family Research Council (@FRCdc) is running another #DumpSPLC campaign. Who is FRC: [Image with text: The hate group designation is based on the Family Research Council's distortion of known facts to demonize gay men as child molesters and similar false claims, and has nothing to do with FRC's support of "natural marriage" or its belief that homosexuality is a sin. – Southern Poverty Law Center] }}</ref>

===SPLC Hatewatch===
The Hatewatch blog, created in {{Circa|2007}}, publishes the work of its teams, including investigative journalists who "monitor and expose" activities of the "American radical right".<ref>{{Cite web| title = Hatewatch| work = Southern Poverty Law Center| access-date = June 22, 2020| url = https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch| archive-date = January 6, 2022| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220106010934/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch| url-status = live}}</ref> Initially, its precursor—the "Klanwatch" project—which was established in 1981, focused on monitoring KKK activities. The Hatewatch blog, along with the "Teaching Tolerance" program and the Intelligence Report, highlights SPLC's work.''<ref name="SPLC_hatemap_2006" />''

An in-depth 2018 Hatewatch report examined the roots and evolution of black-on-white crime rhetoric, from the mid-nineteenth century to the late 2010s. According to the report, "[m]isrepresented crime statistics" on "black-on-white crime" have become a "main propaganda point of America's hate movement".<ref name="SPLC_20180614">{{Cite web| title = The Biggest Lie in the White Supremacist Propaganda Playbook: Unraveling the Truth About 'Black-on-White Crime'| work = Southern Poverty Law Center| access-date = June 22, 2020| url = https://www.splcenter.org/20180614/biggest-lie-white-supremacist-propaganda-playbook-unraveling-truth-about-%E2%80%98black-white-crime| date = June 14, 2018| archive-date = June 23, 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200623110911/https://www.splcenter.org/20180614/biggest-lie-white-supremacist-propaganda-playbook-unraveling-truth-about-%E2%80%98black-white-crime| url-status = live}}</ref> The report described how [[Dylann Roof]], the perpetrator of the June 17, 2015, [[Charleston church shooting]] had written in his manifesto about his 2012 Google search for "black-on-white crime", which led him to be convinced that black men were a "physical threat to white people".<ref name="SPLC_20180614"/> One of the first sources was the [[Council of Conservative Citizens]]. The report shows that on November 22, 2015, then-Presidential Candidate [[Donald Trump]] retweeted a chart that had "originated from a neo-Nazi account" which displayed "bogus crime statistics".<ref name="SPLC_20180614"/>  The SPLC report cited a November 23, 2005, ''Washington Post'' article that fact checked the figures in the graph.<ref name="washingtonpost_Bump_20151122">{{Cite news| last = Bump| first = Philip| title = Donald Trump retweeted a very wrong set of numbers on race and murder| newspaper = [[The Washington Post]]| access-date = June 23, 2020| date = November 22, 2015| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/22/trump-retweeted-a-very-wrong-set-of-numbers-on-race-and-murder/| archive-date = October 22, 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161022124508/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/22/trump-retweeted-a-very-wrong-set-of-numbers-on-race-and-murder/| url-status = live}}</ref> The tweet said that "81 percent of whites are killed by black people", while the FBI says that only 15 percent of white murder victims are killed by a black perpetrator; the large majority of white murder victims are killed by white perpetrators.<ref name="SPLC_20180614"/>

===Teaching Tolerance===
[[File:CivilRightsMemorial-SPLC.jpg|thumb|Closeup of the [[Civil Rights Memorial]]]]
SPLC's projects include the website Tolerance.org, which provides news on tolerance issues, education for children, guidebooks for activists, and resources for parents and teachers.<ref>See:
* {{Cite news |url=http://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources |title=Teaching Tolerance |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=May 2, 2017 |archive-date=May 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170505091253/http://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal|author1=Stevens, Rebecca|author2=Charles, Jim|title=Preparing Teachers to Teach Tolerance|journal=Multicultural Perspectives|date=2005|volume=7|issue=1|pages=17–25|doi=10.1207/s15327892mcp0701_4|s2cid=146710470|issn=1532-7892}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Hunter|first1=Tiffany J.|title=Creating a Culture of Peace in the Elementary Classroom|journal=The Journal of Adventist Education|date=February–March 2008|pages=20–25|url=https://www.andrews.edu/library/car/cardigital/Periodicals/Journal_of_Adventist_Education/2008/jae200870032006.pdf|access-date=May 11, 2017|archive-date=September 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929043209/http://www.andrews.edu/library/car/cardigital/Periodicals/Journal_of_Adventist_Education/2008/jae200870032006.pdf|url-status=live}}
* {{cite journal|author1=D'Angelo, Andrea M.|author2=Dixey, Brenda P.|title=Using Multicultural Resources for Teachers to Combat Racial Prejudice in the Classroom|journal=[[Early Childhood Education Journal]]|date=December 2001|volume=29|issue=1|pages=83–87|doi=10.1023/A:1012516727187|s2cid=142911767}}</ref> The website received [[Webby Award]]s in 2002 and 2004 for Best Activism.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2002/web/general-website/best-activism-websites/|title=Best Activism Sites|access-date=April 9, 2022|archive-date=April 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405191045/https://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2002/web/general-website/best-activism-websites/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Another product of Tolerance.org is the "10 Ways To Fight Hate on Campus: A Response Guide for College Activists" booklet.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Willoughby |first1=Brian |title=10 Ways To Fight Hate on Campus: A Response Guide for College Activists |url=http://equity.psu.edu/assets/Ten_ways_to_fight_racism_.pdf |date=2003 |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |oclc=53621205 |access-date=May 2, 2017 |archive-date=February 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216060915/http://equity.psu.edu/assets/Ten_ways_to_fight_racism_.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Anti-LGBTQ+ hate===
In 2023, the SPLC released a report entitled ''Combating Anti-LGBTQ+ Pseudoscience Through Accessible Informative Narratives'' that said "a large, yet closely-maintained network of far right groups and individuals have increasingly relied on pseudoscience as a tool to advance their cause."<ref>{{cite web |title=SPLC Report Exposes Network Behind Junk Science and Disinformation Campaign Against the LGBTQ+ Community |date=December 12, 2023 |url=https://www.splcenter.org/presscenter/splc-report-exposes-network-behind-junk-science-and-disinformation-campaign-against |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=4 January 2024 |archive-date=January 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104042506/https://www.splcenter.org/presscenter/splc-report-exposes-network-behind-junk-science-and-disinformation-campaign-against |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Combating Anti-LGBTQ+ Pseudoscience|url=https://www.splcenter.org/captain|publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center|date=2023|access-date=January 4, 2024|archive-date=April 14, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240414005106/https://www.splcenter.org/captain|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=McEwen |first=Michael |date=15 December 2023 |title=SPLC Report: far-right groups relying on misinformation in targeting LGBTQ+ community |url=https://www.mpbonline.org/blogs/news/splc-report-farright-groups-relying-on-misinformation-in-targeting-lgbtq-community/ |work=Mississippi Public Broadcasting |access-date=March 12, 2024 |archive-date=March 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240312175930/https://www.mpbonline.org/blogs/news/splc-report-farright-groups-relying-on-misinformation-in-targeting-lgbtq-community/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Documentaries===
The SPLC also produces [[documentary film]]s. Two have won [[Academy Awards]] for [[Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject|Documentary Short Subject]]: ''[[A Time for Justice]]'' (1994) and ''[[Mighty Times: The Children's March]]'' (2004).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1995 |title=The 67th Academy Awards (1995) Nominees and Winners |access-date=May 2, 2017 |work=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |date=October 5, 2014 |publisher=AMPAS |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004445/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1995 |url-status=live }} and [http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/Search/Nominations?filmId=4009&view=2-Film%20Title-Alpha 2005 Academy Awards]{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In 2017 the SPLC began developing a six-part series with Black Box Management to document "the normalization of far-right extremism in the age of Donald Trump."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sun|first1=Rebecca|title=Southern Poverty Law Center Developing Docuseries With Black Box Management (Exclusive)|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/southern-poverty-law-center-developing-docuseries-black-box-management-1002016|access-date=May 25, 2017|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=May 9, 2017|archive-date=May 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525002403/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/southern-poverty-law-center-developing-docuseries-black-box-management-1002016|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Cooperation with law enforcement===
The SPLC cooperates with, and offers training to, law enforcement agencies, focusing "on the history, background, leaders, and activities of far-right extremists in the United States".<ref>For information on training see:
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140312234435/http://www.splcenter.org/what-we-do/hate-and-extremism/law-enforcement/law-enforcement-training "Law Enforcement Training"], Southern Poverty Law Center.
* {{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/17/us/us-southern-poverty-law-center-profile/index.html|title=SPLC draws conservative ire|author=Ariosto, David|access-date=May 15, 2017|date=August 17, 2012|work=CNN|archive-date=August 18, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120818215409/http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/17/us/us-southern-poverty-law-center-profile/index.html|url-status=live}}
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d738P9jvNLsC&pg=PA452|page=452|editor-last=Finley|editor-first=Laura L.|title=Encyclopedia of School Crime and Violence|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2011|isbn=978-0313362385|access-date=August 15, 2015|archive-date=June 5, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605231106/https://books.google.com/books?id=d738P9jvNLsC&pg=PA452|url-status=live}}
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CHmSzuwyXtkC&pg=PA410|page=410|first1=James A.|last1=Conser|first2=Rebecca|last2=Paynich|first3=Terry E.|last3=Gingerich|title=Law Enforcement in the United States|publisher=Jones & Bartlett Publishers|year=2011|isbn=978-0763799380|edition=3rd|access-date=August 15, 2015|archive-date=June 5, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605231143/https://books.google.com/books?id=CHmSzuwyXtkC&pg=PA410#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}
* {{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PSx_8ZEvZycC&pg=PA103|author=Lane, Virginia|page=103|chapter=Appendix D: Sources of information for responding to hate crimes|title=Hate Crime Statistics: A Resource Book|publisher=DIANE Publishing|year=1990|isbn=978-0788105364|access-date=August 15, 2015|archive-date=June 5, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605231109/https://books.google.com/books?id=PSx_8ZEvZycC&pg=PA103#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> The FBI has partnered with the SPLC and many other organizations "to establish rapport, share information, address concerns, and cooperate in solving problems" related to hate crimes.<ref>For information about hate groups provided to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI). See:
* {{cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/civil-rights/hate-crimes|title=What We Investigate: Hate Crimes: The FBI's Role: Public Outreach|website=www.fbi.gov|access-date=April 4, 2017|archive-date=May 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519002149/https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/civil-rights/hate-crimes|url-status=live}}
* [[#CITEREFMichael2012|Michael (2012)]], p. 32.
* {{cite news|last1=Hauslohner|first1=Abigail|title=Southern Poverty Law Center says American hate groups are on the rise|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/southern-poverty-law-center-says-american-hate-groups-are-on-the-rise/2017/02/15/7e9cab02-f2d9-11e6-a9b0-ecee7ce475fc_story.html|access-date=April 4, 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=February 15, 2017|quote=The FBI says it does not investigate organizations characterized by the SPLC as 'hate groups,' or others, unless it has reason to believe that a particular individual is engaged in criminal activity.|archive-date=March 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328023019/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/southern-poverty-law-center-says-american-hate-groups-are-on-the-rise/2017/02/15/7e9cab02-f2d9-11e6-a9b0-ecee7ce475fc_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In a November 2018 briefing of law enforcement officials in [[Clark County, Washington]], concerning the [[Proud Boys]] FBI agents suggested the use of various websites for more information, including that of the SPLC.<ref name=oregonian>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2018/12/head-of-oregons-fbi-bureau-doesnt-designate-proud-boys-as-extremist-group.html|title=Head of Oregon's FBI: Bureau doesn't designate Proud Boys as extremist group|website=oregonlive.com|language=en-US|access-date=December 8, 2018|date=December 4, 2018|archive-date=December 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206102342/https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2018/12/head-of-oregons-fbi-bureau-doesnt-designate-proud-boys-as-extremist-group.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The organization urged Chicago to fire a policeman who allegedly hid his association with the Proud Boys.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Southern Poverty Law Center urges CPD to reconsider decision not to fire officer who lied about ties to Proud Boys |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/southern-poverty-law-center-urges-cpd-to-reconsider-decision-not-to-fire-officer-who-lied-about-ties-to-proud-boys/ar-AA160LJo |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=MSN |language=en-US |archive-date=June 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605231112/https://www.msn.com/en-us |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== ''Intelligence Report'' ===
Since 1981, the SPLC's Intelligence Project has published a quarterly ''Intelligence Report'' that monitors what the SPLC considers [[Radical right (United States)|radical right]] [[hate group]]s and [[extremists]] in the United States.<ref>{{oclc|70790007}}</ref> The ''Intelligence Report'' provides information regarding organizational efforts and tactics of these groups and persons, and has been cited by scholars, including [[Rory M. McVeigh]] and [[David Mark Chalmers]], as a reliable and comprehensive source on U.S. right-wing extremism and hate groups.<ref name="Chalmers_Backfire_2003"/>{{rp|188}}<ref>See:
*[http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report Intelligence Report ''Get Informed'' web page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150803094210/http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report |date=August 3, 2015 }}. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
*{{Cite journal|first=Rory|last=McVeigh|title=Structured Ignorance and Organized Racism in the United States|journal=[[Social Forces]]|volume=82|issue=3|pages=895–936|date=March 2004|jstor=3598361|doi=10.1353/sof.2004.0047|s2cid=146565591|quote=[I]ts outstanding reputation is well established, and the SPLC has been an excellent source of information for social scientists who study racist organizations.}}
*Barnett, Brett A. (2007) [https://books.google.com/books?id=iuQSNj5NxioC&dq=Southern+Poverty+Law+reliable+source&pg=PA20 ''Untangling the web of hate: are online "hate sites" deserving of First Amendment Protection?''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408111107/https://books.google.com/books?id=iuQSNj5NxioC&dq=Southern+Poverty+Law+reliable+source&pg=PA20 |date=April 8, 2023 }}. Youngstown, NY: Cambria Press. Retrieved May 15, 2017
*{{cite web |url=http://www.wiu.edu/ISCDA/resources.shtml |title=Illinois Association for Cultural Diversity reading list |publisher=[[Western Illinois University]] |access-date=January 26, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515070740/http://www.wiu.edu/ISCDA/resources.shtml |archive-date=May 15, 2008 }}</ref> In 2013 the SPLC donated the ''Intelligence Project''{{'}}s documentation to the library of [[Duke University]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=EXTREMISM @ the LIBRARY|first=Maria R.|last=Traska|journal=[[American Libraries]]|volume=45|issue=6|year=2014|pages=32–35|jstor=24603509}}</ref> The SPLC also publishes ''HateWatch Weekly'', a newsletter that follows racism and extremism, and the ''Hatewatch'' blog, whose [[Subtitle (titling)|subtitle]] is "Keeping an Eye on the Radical Right".<ref>{{oclc|753911264}}</ref>

Two articles published in ''Intelligence Report'' have won "Green Eyeshade Excellence in Journalism" awards from the [[Society of Professional Journalists]]. "Communing with the Council", written by Heidi Beirich and Bob Moser, took third place for Investigative Journalism in the Magazine Division in 2004, and "Southern Gothic", by David Holthouse and [[Casey Sanchez]], took second place for Feature Reporting in the Magazine Division in 2007.<ref>For the articles and awards see:
* {{cite web|last=Beirich|first=Heidi|author2=Bob Moser|title=Communing with the Council|work=Intelligence Report|publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center|year=2004|url=http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?pid=802|access-date=January 26, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091020094447/http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?pid=802|archive-date=October 20, 2009}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.spj.org/a-eyeshadeW04.asp |title=Green Eyeshade Awards 2004 |publisher=Society of Professional Journalists |access-date=January 26, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124072832/http://spj.org/a-eyeshadeW04.asp |archive-date=January 24, 2009  }}
*{{cite web|last=Holthouse|first=David|author2=Casey Sanchez|title=Southern Gothic|work=Intelligence Report|publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center|year=2007|url=http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=789|access-date=January 26, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090817193655/http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=789|archive-date=August 17, 2009}}
* {{cite web |url=http://spjsofla.net/2008/04/30/finalists-named-in-58th-annual-green-eyeshade-awards |title=Green Eyeshade Awards 2007 |publisher=Society of Professional Journalists |access-date=January 26, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514124213/http://spjsofla.net/2008/04/30/finalists-named-in-58th-annual-green-eyeshade-awards/ |archive-date=May 14, 2008  }}</ref>

Since 2001, the SPLC has released an annual issue of the ''Intelligence Project'' called ''Year in Hate'', later renamed ''Year in Hate and Extremism'', in which it presents statistics on the numbers of hate groups in America. The current format of the report covers racial hate groups, nativist hate groups, and other [[Far-right politics|right-wing extremist]] groups such as groups within the [[Patriot Movement]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Intelligence Report, browse all issues web page |url=http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues |publisher=SPLC |access-date=May 6, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508004916/http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues |archive-date=May 8, 2015  }}</ref> [[Jesse Walker]], writing in ''[[Reason.com]]'', criticized the 2016 report, questioning whether the count was reliable, as it focused on the number of groups rather than the number of people in those groups or the size of the groups. Walker gives the example that the 2016 report itself concedes an increase in the number of KKK groups could be due to two large groups falling apart, leading to members creating smaller local groups.<ref>{{cite web|author=Walker, Jesse|author-link=Jesse Walker|title=The Southern Poverty Law Center Is Counting Extremists Again: Do its numbers tell a story?|url=http://reason.com/blog/2017/02/16/the-southern-poverty-law-center-is-count|work=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason Magazine]]|publisher=[[Reason Foundation]]|issn=0048-6906|access-date=April 19, 2017|date=February 16, 2017|archive-date=April 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419192549/http://reason.com/blog/2017/02/16/the-southern-poverty-law-center-is-count|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Notable publications and media coverage on the SPLC==

In May 1988, journalist [[John Egerton (journalist)|John Egerton]] published his article entitled "The Klan Basher" in ''Foundation News''.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Klan Basher|journal=Foundation News|date=May–June 1988|pages=38–43|url=http://catalog.foundationcenter.org/cgi-bin/koha/opac-ISBDdetail.pl?biblionumber=4349|access-date=April 20, 2017|archive-date=February 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202023253/http://catalog.foundationcenter.org/cgi-bin/koha/opac-ISBDdetail.pl?biblionumber=4349|url-status=live}} (Archived at [https://web.archive.org/web/20160502165035/http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/speccol/findingaids/egertonj_addition.pdf Special Collections and University Archives] Jean and Alexander Heard Library [[Vanderbilt University]])</ref> In July 1988, he published a similar article, entitled "Poverty Palace: How the Southern Poverty Law Center got rich fighting the Klan", in ''[[The Progressive]].''<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Egerton|first1=John|author-link=John Egerton (journalist)| title=Poverty Palace: How the Southern Poverty Law Center got rich fighting the Klan|journal=[[The Progressive]]|date=July 14, 1988|pages=14–17|issn=0033-0736|oclc=757703819}}</ref> A 1991 book entitled ''Shades of Gray: Dispatches from the Modern South'' included a chapter by Egerton on this theme, entitled "Morris Dees and the Southern Poverty Law Center".<ref>{{cite book|title=Shades of Gray: Dispatches from the Modern South|date=1991|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|location=Baton Rouge and London|isbn=978-0-8071-1705-7|pages=211–36|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O6YFLYjAgcQC&q=%22shades+of+gray%22|access-date=May 12, 2017|chapter=Morris Dees and the Southern Poverty Law Center|archive-date=June 5, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605231613/https://books.google.com/books?id=O6YFLYjAgcQC&q=%22shades+of+gray%22#v=snippet&q=%22shades%20of%20gray%22&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1994, the ''[[Montgomery Advertiser]]'' published an eight-part critical report on the SPLC.<ref name="montgomeryadvertiser_Morse_199402">Morse, Dan and Jeffe, Greg (February 13–20, 1994). ''Montgomery Advertiser'', "Rising Fortunes: Morris Dees and the Southern Poverty Law Center" {{subscription required}}</ref> The series was nominated as one of three finalists for a 1995 [[Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting|Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Journalism]] for "its probe of questionable management practices and self-interest at the Southern Poverty Law Center, the nation's best-endowed civil rights charity."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/staff-73|title=Finalist: Staff of Montgomery (AL) Advertiser – For its probe of questionable management practices and self-interest at the Southern Poverty Law Center, the nation's best-endowed civil rights charity.|publisher=[[The Pulitzer Prizes]]|year=1995|access-date=April 5, 2017|archive-date=April 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405172154/http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/staff-73|url-status=live}}</ref> According to the series, the SPLC had exaggerated the threat posed by the Klan and similar groups in order to raise money, discriminated against black employees, and used misleading fundraising tactics.<ref name="Advertiser_Mislead">{{cite news |last1=Morse |first1=Dan |title=A Complex Man |volume=167 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29531088/ |access-date=March 15, 2019 |work=Montgomery Advertiser |issue=45 |publisher=The Advertiser Co. |date=February 14, 1994 |page=1A |quote=Some who've worked with Mr. Dees call him phony, the 'television evangelist' of civil rights who misleads donors into thinking the center desperately needs their money. |archive-date=June 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605231615/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-montgomery-advertiser/29531088/ |url-status=live }}</ref> From 1984 to 1994, the SPLC raised about $62 million in contributions and spent about $21 million on programs, according to the newspaper.<ref name="Finkelman_Encyclopedia_2006"/> SPLC's co-founder Joe Levin rejected the ''Advertiser's'' claims, saying that the series showed a lack of interest in the center's programs. Levin said that the newspaper had an obsessive interest in the SPLC's financial affairs and Mr. Dees' personal life, in order to smear the center and Mr. Dees."{{refn|<ref>February 13, 1994 – [http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/259863502/ "What the Montgomery Advertiser has learned about the nation's wealthiest civil rights charity"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817122138/http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/259863502/ |date=August 17, 2017 }}, pp. 1A, 14A</ref><ref>February 14, 1994 – [http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/259875027/ "Morris Dees: To some he's a hero; to others a phoney."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805103023/http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/259875027/ |date=August 5, 2020 }} pp. 1A, 4A, 6A</ref><ref>February 15, 1994 – [http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/259877050/ "How the Law Center makes millions marketing the Klan."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210170644/http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/259877050/ |date=February 10, 2018 }} pp. 1A, 5A, 6A</ref><ref>February 16, 1994 – [http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/260042175/ "The Law Center fights for black rights, but does it practice what it preaches?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805103941/http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/260042175/ |date=August 5, 2020 }} pp. 1A, 6A, 7A</ref><ref>February 17, 1994 – [http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/260045005/ "How did the Law Center make its millions? How does it spend its donors' money?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805112411/http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/260045005/ |date=August 5, 2020 }} pp. 1A, 6A, 7A</ref><ref>February 18, 1994 – [http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/260048639/ "Charity watchdog groups have criticized the Law Center's fund raising and spending."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210175618/http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/260048639/ |date=February 10, 2018 }} pp. 1A, 9A</ref><ref>February 19, 1994 – [http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/260053872/ "Critics say the Law Center's board has little control over the center's direction."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210165406/http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/260053872/ |date=February 10, 2018 }} pp. 1A, 13A</ref><ref>February 20, 1994 – [http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/260056145/ "Internal Revenue Service overwhelmed by explosion of charities."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805110959/http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/260056145/ |date=August 5, 2020 }} pp. 1A, 14A, 15A</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/260075113/?terms=southern%2Bpoverty%2Blaw%2Bcenter|title=Law Center responds to Advertiser series|author=Southern Poverty Law Center|date=February 27, 1994|work=Montgomery Advertiser|page=1A, 12A|access-date=May 7, 2017|archive-date=August 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801034530/http://montgomeryadvertiser.newspapers.com/image/260075113/?terms=southern%2Bpoverty%2Blaw%2Bcenter|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present: From the Age of Segregation to the Twenty-first Century|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6gbQHxb_P0QC&pg=RA3-PA362|access-date=May 15, 2017|date=2009|editor-last=Finkelman|editor-first=Paul|page=362|language=en|isbn=978-0195167795|author=Phillips, Michael|chapter=Southern Poverty Law Center|archive-date=June 5, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605231615/https://books.google.com/books?id=6gbQHxb_P0QC&pg=RA3-PA362#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[[#CITEREFWilcox2002|Wilcox (2002)]] pp. 309–10.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=about.Panel%20Discussion:%20Nonprofit%20Organizations%20May%2099|title = Panel Discussion: Nonprofit Organizations – "Attacking a Home-Town Icon"|last = Kovach|first = Bill|date = May 1999|publisher = [[Nieman Foundation for Journalism]] at [[Harvard University]]|access-date = November 21, 2004|archive-date = February 24, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210224012538/http://niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=about.Panel%20Discussion:%20Nonprofit%20Organizations%20May%2099|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Barringer|first1=Felicity|title=Press Critics Strike Early At Puliizers|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/13/business/press-critics-strike-early-at-pulitzers.html|access-date=May 11, 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 13, 1998|archive-date=January 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131183336/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/13/business/press-critics-strike-early-at-pulitzers.html|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

David Mark Chalmers, who is the author of ''Hooded Americanism: The History of the Ku Klux Klan'' published in 1987, also wrote a follow-up, ''Backfire, Backfire: How the Ku Klux Klan Helped the Civil Rights Movement'' in 2003, in which he described the SPLC's role in the decline of the Klan.<ref name="Chalmers_Backfire_2003">{{cite book |last=Chalmers |first=David Mark |author-link=David Mark Chalmers |date=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tlvs7498TJMC&q=Southern+Poverty+Law+reliable&pg=PA188 |title=Backfire: How the Ku Klux Klan Helped the Civil Rights Movement |location=Lantham, MD |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9780742523111 |oclc=61176651 |access-date=March 14, 2021 |archive-date=June 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605231615/https://books.google.com/books?id=tlvs7498TJMC&q=Southern+Poverty+Law+reliable&pg=PA188#v=snippet&q=Southern%20Poverty%20Law%20reliable&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2006, a chapter on the SPLC by was published in the ''Encyclopedia of American civil liberties'' which described the history of the SPLC and its co-founder Morris Dees.<ref name="Finkelman_Encyclopedia_2006">{{Cite book| publisher = Routledge| isbn = 978-0-415-94342-0| editor-last = Finkelman| editor-first = Paul| title = Encyclopedia of American civil liberties: A-F| volume = 1| chapter = Southern Poverty Law Center| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YoI14vYA8r0C&q=Southern+Poverty+law+center| first = Salmon A.| last = Shomade| location = New York| pages = 1500–1520| date = 2006| oclc = 819521815| access-date = October 6, 2020| archive-date = June 5, 2024| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240605231616/https://books.google.com/books?id=YoI14vYA8r0C&q=Southern+Poverty+law+center#v=snippet&q=Southern%20Poverty%20law%20center&f=false| url-status = live}}</ref>{{rp|1500}}<ref group="Notes">Finkelman's ''Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties'' was republished in 2017 in London by [[Taylor and Francis]].</ref>

The [[National Geographic Channel]] television series included the 2008 episode entitled "Inside American Terror", which covered the SPLC's successful lawsuit against the Ku Klux Klan''.<ref name="NG_AmericanTerrorKKK_2008">{{Cite web|title="Inside" Ku Klux Klan (TV Episode 2008)|author1=Nan Byrne|author2= Mike Sinclair|author3= Daniele Anastasion|access-date=June 22, 2020|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1308957/|work=IMDb|archive-date=September 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220918030704/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1308957/|url-status=live}}</ref>''

In their 2009 book ''The White Separatist Movement in the United States: 'White Power, White Pride!{{'}}'', sociologists Betty A. Dobratz and Stephanie L. Shanks-Meile said that the SPLC's ''Klanwatch Intelligence Reports'' portrayed the KKK as more "militant and dangerous with higher turnouts" than what they personally had observed.<ref name="Dobratz_WhiteSeparatist_2009">{{Cite book| publisher = JHU Press| isbn = 978-0-8018-6537-4| last1 = Dobratz| first1 = Betty A.| last2 = Shanks-Meile| first2 = Stephanie L.| title = The White Separatist Movement in the United States: 'White Power, White Pride!'| date = 2000}}</ref>{{rp|1–3}}

[[Laurence Leamer]]'s 2016 book, entitled ''The Lynching: The Epic Courtroom Battle That Brought Down the Klan'', centered around the role played by [[Morris Dees]] as SPLC's co-founder, who won the case against the Klan which provided the family of teenager Michael Donald, lynched by the Klan in 1981 in [[Mobile, Alabama]] with restitution from the Klan.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Leamer|first1=Laurence|author-link=Laurence Leamer|title=The Lynching: The Epic Courtroom Battle That Brought Down the Klan|date=2016|publisher=William Morrow|location=New York|isbn=978-0062458346|oclc=950881846}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| issn = 0190-8286| last = Scott| first = Daryl Michael| title = A Klan murder that boomeranged against the Klan| newspaper = [[The Washington Post]]| access-date = 2020-06-22| date = 2016-08-05| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-klan-murder-that-boomeranged-against-the-klan/2016/08/04/04901a7e-380d-11e6-9ccd-d6005beac8b3_story.html| archive-date = June 25, 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200625091304/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-klan-murder-that-boomeranged-against-the-klan/2016/08/04/04901a7e-380d-11e6-9ccd-d6005beac8b3_story.html| url-status = live}}</ref>

In 2013, [[J.M. Berger]] wrote in ''[[Foreign Policy]]'' that media organizations should be more cautious when citing the SPLC and ADL, arguing that they are "not objective purveyors of data".<ref name="FP_Berger_2013">{{cite news|last1=Berger|first1=J.M. |author-link=J.M. Berger |title=The Hate List: Is America really being overrun by right-wing militants?|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/03/12/the-hate-list/|work=[[Foreign Policy]]|issn=1745-1302|date=March 12, 2013|access-date=April 20, 2017|archive-date=May 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515221436/http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/03/12/the-hate-list/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In their 2015 book ''Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints and Voices'', Roger Chapman and James Ciment cited the criticism of SPLC by journalist [[Ken Silverstein]], who said that the SPLC's fundraising appeals and finances were deceptive.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XO9nBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA620| title = Roger Chapman, James Ciment, ''Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints and Voices'' (Routledge, 2015), p.620| isbn = 9781317473510| last1 = Chapman| first1 = Roger| date = March 17, 2015| publisher = Routledge| access-date = September 20, 2019| archive-date = June 5, 2024| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240605231616/https://books.google.com/books?id=XO9nBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA620#v=onepage&q&f=false| url-status = live}}</ref>

Conservative columnist [[Marc Thiessen]], in a June 2018 column for ''[[The Washington Post]]'', said that the SPLC had lost its credibility and "become a caricature of itself".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Thiessen |first1=Marc |title=The Southern Poverty Law Center has lost all credibility |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-southern-poverty-law-center-has-lost-all-credibility/2018/06/21/22ab7d60-756d-11e8-9780-b1dd6a09b549_story.html |access-date=August 20, 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 22, 2018 |archive-date=May 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509071553/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-southern-poverty-law-center-has-lost-all-credibility/2018/06/21/22ab7d60-756d-11e8-9780-b1dd6a09b549_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the wake of Morris Dees' dismissal in March 2019, former SPLC staffer Bob Moser published an article in ''[[The New Yorker]]'', "The Reckoning of Morris Dees and the Southern Poverty Law Center", in which he described his disappointment with what the SPLC had become.<ref name="NYker_Moser_Reckoning_20190325"/>

The [[English Wikipedia]] community considers the Southern Poverty Law Center to be "generally reliable on topics related to hate groups and extremism in the United States", but notes that it is "[[Wikipedia:BIASED|biased]]" and should be attributed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bandler |first=Aaron |date=2024-06-21 |title=Wikipedia Editors Label ADL Only Reliable for Antisemitism When "Israel and Zionism Are Not Concerned" |url=https://jewishjournal.com/news/united-states/372532/wikipedia-editors-label-adl-only-reliable-for-antisemitism-when-israel-and-zionism-are-not-concerned/ |access-date=2024-06-25 |website=Jewish Journal |language=en-US |archive-date=June 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240622020506/https://jewishjournal.com/news/united-states/372532/wikipedia-editors-label-adl-only-reliable-for-antisemitism-when-israel-and-zionism-are-not-concerned/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Explanatory notes==
{{Reflist|group="Notes"}}

==See also==
* [[List of organizations designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as hate groups]]
* [[List of organizations designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as anti-LGBT hate groups]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== General and cited references ===
* {{Cite book |last1=Dees |first1=Morris |last2=Fiffer |first2=Steve |author2-link=Steve Fiffer |date=1991 |title=A Season for Justice: The Life and Times of Civil Rights Lawyer Morris Dees |url=https://archive.org/details/seasonforjustice00dees_0 |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |isbn=978-0684191898 }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Dees |first1=Morris |last2=Fiffer |first2=Steve |year=1993 |title=Hate on Trial: The Case Against America's Most Dangerous Neo-Nazi |location=New York |publisher=Villard Books |isbn=978-0679406143}}
* {{Cite book |last=Michael |first=George |year=2012 |title=Lone Wolf Terror and the Rise of Leaderless Resistance |location=Nashville, Tenn. |publisher=Vanderbilt University Press |isbn=978-0826518552}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Wilcox |first1=Laird |date=2002 |author-link=Laird Wilcox |chapter=Chapter 12 'Who Watches the Watchman?' |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WU42AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA309 |editor-last1=Kaplan |editor-first1=Jeffrey |editor1-link=Jeffrey Kaplan (academic) |editor-last2=Lööw |editor-first2=Heléne |title=The Cultic Milieu: Oppositional Subcultures in an Age of Globalization |location=Walnut Creek, Calif. |publisher=AltaMira Press |isbn=978-0759116580 |pages=309–10 |access-date=May 15, 2017 |language=en}}

==Further reading==
* {{Citation |editor-last=Fleming |editor-first=Maria |year=2001 |title=A Place at the Table: Struggles for Equality in America |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press in association with the Southern Poverty Law Center |isbn=978-0195150360}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Official website}}
* {{ProPublicaNonprofitExplorer|630598743}}

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