Kenneth Schorr – Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy

Posted on December 10, 2021

After 34 years of service, our Executive Director, Kenneth Schorr, will retire on April 8, 2022. While leading an effective and dynamic program of individual and systemic advocacy, Ken’s concluding goals were to lead our organization through its 50^th anniversary celebration and rebranding in 2017, conduct a successful capital campaign, and acquire and move to a new building. As our capital campaign approaches our goal, and our organization will move to our new office in early 2022, those goals are nearly complete.

Ken began his service as Executive Director for Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy in April 1988. During his tenure, he recruited and supported lawyers and other staff to be experts in their areas of legal practice, provided individual client assistance in employment and other areas of law, and assisted other advocates across the range of our legal practice. Throughout his career, he has worked to keep our agency focused on the clients and community we serve, expert and agile in its work, and connected and collaborated with partners and supporters.

Ken’s professional career has been committed to helping those who are disadvantaged or disfavored in our community. We have all been impacted by his dedication.

The Advocacy Center Board has appointed a Search Committee, chaired by Jose Vega, Wells Fargo and Ed O’Keefe, Moore and Van Allen. The Search Committee and the Advocacy Center Board of Directors have selected Elinvar Leadership Solutions to support the executive search and to ensure a smooth transition. Although Ken’s determination and tenacity leading our organization will be missed, he leaves the Advocacy Center in a strong position to move forward with new leadership. Through this transition, the Advocacy Center will continue to work tirelessly to fulfill our mission to pursue justice for those in need.

Posted on September 10, 2019

On March 30, 2016, in an immigration courtroom in Charlotte, North Carolina, a 2-year-old boy was doing what you might expect: He was making some noise. But Judge V. Stuart Couch—a former Marine known to have a temper—was growing frustrated. He pointed his finger at the Guatemalan child and demanded that he be quiet.

When the boy failed to obey his command, the threats began. “I have a very big dog in my office, and if you don’t be quiet, he will come out and bite you!” Couch yelled.

Couch continued, as a Spanish-language interpreter translated for the child, “Want me to go get the dog? If you don’t stop talking, I will bring the dog out. Do you want him to bite you?” Couch continued to yell at the boy throughout the hearing when he moved or made noise.

Kathryn Coiner-Collier, the only independent observer in the courtroom that day, says her mouth was on the floor as Couch made his threats. She sometimes saw Department of Homeland Security dogs sweeping the court building, and it was completely plausible to her that dogs could have been there that day. Coiner-Collier, then a coordinator for a project run by the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy to assist immigrants who couldn’t afford attorneys, says she “ferociously scribbled everything” Couch was saying. Soon after, she wrote an affidavit containing the dialogue above, and Kenneth Schorr, the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy’s executive director, submitted a complaint to the Justice Department in April 2016.

Tag: Kenneth Schorr

Kenneth Schorr, Executive Director, Announces Retirement

Judge Promoted by Trump Administration Threatened a 2-Year-Old With an Attack Dog