On Friday, September 28, 2007, the Washington, DC Lawyer Chapter hosted Brian Landsberg, author and professor at Pacific McGeorge School of Law, for a discussion regarding his new book Free at Last to Vote: The Alabama Origins of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The event was held at Covington & Burling.

In his new book, Free at Last to Vote: The Alabama Origins of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Professor Landsberg highlights a long-neglected but vitally important chapter in the history of the civil rights movement and puts a human face on the struggle for the right to vote, enhancing our understanding of the efforts blacks made to register, the doubts of even moderate whites, and the role of federal agents in protecting voter rights. His study is especially welcome in light of the controversy surrounding the VRA's recent renewal in 2006, which caught glimpses of the pre-VRA South, and current concerns over new and emerging forms of disenfranchisement.