“Jean is being honored for her distinguished career as an advocate for immigrants’ rights and children’s rights,” said AALDEF Executive Director Margaret Fung. “She has been a leader in advancing these issues and protecting the rights of our most vulnerable people.”

Jean Koh Peters is the Sol Goldman Clinical Professor of Law and Supervising Attorney for The Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization. An expert in children, families and the law, she joined Yale Law School in 1989 after teaching for three years at Columbia Law School. She was named the Sol Goldman Clinical Professor in 2009 and currently supervises students representing clients in the Sol and Lillian Goldman Family Advocacy for Children and Youth Clinic and the Immigration Legal Services Clinic. She is author of the book, “Representing Children in Child Protective Proceedings: Ethical and Practical Dimensions,” now in its third edition. 

Peters’ 2012 co-honorees are Fareed Zakaria, CNN host and Time editor-at-large; and Parkin Lee, vice president, chief legal officer and secretary of The Rockefeller Group. Peters’ brother, former Yale Law School Dean Harold Hongju Koh, received the Justice in Action award in 1993. Other past recipients have included Fred Korematsu, Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Lani Guinier ‘74, Deval Patrick, Harry Belafonte, Seymour Hersh, and Yoko Ono. 

Since 1987, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund has presented the Justice in Action awards to exceptional individuals for their efforts in advancing social justice and human rights for Asian Americans. The Justice in Action award recipients are chosen for their contributions to Asian American communities across the nation, as well as for their singular achievements in their respective fields.

Read about Peters at the Yale Law School website >

Image courtesy of Yale Law School