BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The first public defender of Alabama’s most populous county has been chosen to lead the local American Civil Liberties Union.
AL.com reports the ACLU of Alabama announced Monday that Kira Fonteneau was elected as its new board president, replacing Mark Lester. The former Jefferson County public defender says in a statement that she’s excited to help continue the ACLU’s progress in the state.
Fonteneau became public defender in 2013 and served until 2016. State officials said then that Fonteneau resigned. However, she says she was fired, but didn’t cite reasons for her termination.
The organization, based in Montgomery, says in a statement that Fonteneau has been an advocate for equal rights for women at work and for challenging racial and economic inequities in Alabama’s criminal justice system.