Summary:
Pratt’s professional concentration has been on fair housing and civil rights issues. After law school, she worked for the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, practiced law, and served with many organizations as a social justice advocate. She moved to Washington, D.C. in 1991, to begin working for the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development primarily focusing on the enforcement of fair housing law and policy development.
Pratt discusses her early attraction to social justice advocacy and her decision to find a vocation that would provide her with the tools to “take on issues.” Much of the interview deals with her partnership with her husband, Charlie, in addressing disability rights issues. She discusses an ongoing debate within the ACLU-KY when faced with first amendment cases that impacted fourteenth amendment principles. Pratt recalls the bravery of plaintiffs and the motivation of attorneys to engage in civil liberties lawsuits. She describes the 1980s as a period in which the ACLU-KY grew in size, visibility and improved its fundraising efforts.
