Charles Ogletree: Professor of the Obama’s

This is Part 3 in a week long series titled African-Americans in the Obama Administration: A Look Ahead. Today’s post focuses on Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree.

In its November Issue, the American Bar Association Journal listed Charles Ogletree as a potential Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. Could there be a better choice? The Harvard professor’s research interests include:

· Comparative Criminal Justice Systems

· Criminal Justice Administration

· Public Defender Systems

· Race and Criminal Justice

Ogletree was one of Barack Obama’s law professors, and he also taught Michelle Obama who left Harvard the year before the President-Elect came to the school.

Ogletree advised Obama on reforming the criminal-justice system as well as other issues of race during the campaign. The ABA Journal also has an interesting note on what Ogletree thought about Clarence Thomas’ nomination to the Supreme Court.

When the NAACP believed it was obligated to support Clarence Thomas in his confirmation battle for the Supreme Court, Ogletree wrote a 30-page report that changed its mind.

Mr. Ogletree was part of the team that searched for Obama’s running mate which ultimately lead to the selection of Joe Biden. Ogletree doesn’t fit the “post-racial” mode of many African-Americans in the Obama camp, so it would be interesting to see how his thoughts on issues like reparations would be received by the mainstream.

Thursday: Cassandra Butts – The Law School Classmate