Dane DeKrey has joined the ACLU of North Dakota as advocacy director.
As advocacy director, DeKrey oversees the organization’s legislative, public education and advocacy efforts and is responsible for developing issue campaigns to advance civil liberties and civil rights in North Dakota.
DeKrey’s mission for his work with the ACLU has a singular focus — to make North Dakota a better place to live for all of its residents. To achieve that goal, his work takes many forms, including lobbying at the state capitol, running grassroots campaigns and fighting against discriminatory laws and practices of any kind.
"Dane’s demonstrated passion for and commitment to constitutional rights and social justice, along with his legal training and experience, made him a natural fit for the ACLU of North Dakota,” said Heather Smith, executive director of the ACLU of North Dakota. “With Dane on board, our capacity to create change in North Dakota is bigger than ever, and we’re poised to fight back against any attempt to undermine our rights or target any class of people for discrimination.”
Prior to joining the ACLU of North Dakota, DeKrey spent five years as an attorney, first representing average people taking on large companies at a class action law firm in Minnesota and later working as a federal public defender in Fargo. During his time as a public defender, DeKrey developed a passion for Indian country and the Fourth Amendment.
DeKrey graduated from the University of North Dakota and the University of Minnesota Law School. He grew up in Wyoming, but his roots are in North Dakota. He currently lives in the Fargo-Moorhead area with his wife and infant son.
About the ACLU of North Dakota
The American Civil Liberties Union of North Dakota is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of civil liberties and civil rights. The ACLU of North Dakota is part of a three-state chapter that also includes South Dakota and Wyoming. The team in North Dakota is supported by staff in those states.
The ACLU believes freedoms of press, speech, assembly, and religion, and the rights to due process, equal protection and privacy, are fundamental to a free people. In addition, the ACLU seeks to advance constitutional protections for groups traditionally denied their rights, including people of color, women, and the LGBTQ communities. The ACLU of North Dakota carries out its work through selective litigation, lobbying at the state and local level, and through public education and awareness of what the Bill of Rights means for the people of North Dakota.
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