Celebrating Amir Ali, Outgoing President & Executive Director of the MacArthur Justice Center

Amir Ali, the MacArthur Justice Center’s (MJC) President & Executive Director stepped down as the organization’s President and Executive director on August 5, 2024. Over his seven-year tenure at MJC, Amir led by example in and outside the organization, known for building coalitions and setting multiple landmark precedents that transcend ideology and cultivating a strong internal culture that will benefit MJC for years to come. 

Amir first joined MJC in 2017 to found the organization’s Washington, D.C. Office and build the organization’s Supreme Court and Appellate Program. In this role, he represented and advocated for dozens of indigent people whose legal rights were violated, including arguing two major civil rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court: Garza v. Idaho, which expanded the constitutional right to counsel; and Thompson v. Clark, in which the Court recognized that government actors could be held civilly accountable for initiating false charges against someone. Amir succeeded in both cases, persuading a majority of the Supreme Court to issue precedent that expands core constitutional rights. During this time, Amir also held a faculty position at Harvard Law School, where he established and taught the Criminal Justice Appellate Clinic. 

In 2021, Amir became MJC’s President and Executive Director, steering the organization’s overall mission. As the organization’s second Executive Director in its nearly four decades of history, Amir continued his national leadership in issues related to civil rights, including litigating cutting-edge cases. Amir was at the forefront of building coalitions between groups across the ideological spectrum, who now regularly work together in advocating for greater accountability. On top of this, Amir led vital work within the organization, to organize MJC around a new shared mission, core values and strategic approach to strengthen MJC and grow our work.  

Amir has received numerous awards for his work at MJC, including the Justice Tribute Award from the NAACP and ACRL, the American Constitution Society’s David Carliner Public Interest Award finalist, Bloomberg’s “40 under 40,” and Bloomberg Law’s Pro Bono Innovators Award. In January 2024, President Biden nominated Amir to become a U.S. District Judge in Washington, D.C.