Lawyer and activist Neil Proto will speak at the University today at 7 p.m. in the Many Nations Longhouse, located at 1630 Columbia St. on the east end of campus. Proto will discuss environmental and legal issues and his recently published autobiography, “To a High Court: The Tumult and Choices that Led to United States of America v. SCRAP.”
In his autobiography’s titular court case, Proto led Students Challenging Regulatory Agency Procedures, a group of four of his fellow law students, to victory in the Supreme Court in 1973, allowing citizens to sue for environmental reasons.
In 1995 Proto represented a group opposed to The Walt Disney Company’s proposed construction of a theme park on sleepy farmland close to the Washington, D.C.
Beltline and the Manassas National Battlefield Park, a Civil War battlefield. Proto also won that case.
Proto studied law at Georgetown University where he is now an adjunct professor. He is a partner at the law firm of Schnader, Harrison, Segal and Lewis LLP, has written two books about martyred immigrants Sacco and Vanzetti, and has practiced law for the U.S. Department of Justice.
The event is free and open to the public.