DOUG KENDALL

KENDALL DOUG KENDALL Progressive Champion of the Environment and the Constitution, Dies at 51 In 1997, Doug Kendall, a public interest lawyer based in Washington, D.C., kicked off yet another bicycle trip out west. A successful lawyer in our nation's capital, Doug loved nothing more than to return to nature, embarking on lengthy bicycle tours of the Pacific Coast and the Rocky Mountain West. It was during one of these tours that Doug settled on an audacious idea. After years of working for others-first as an associate at Crowell & Moring and then as a lawyer at the National Environmental Trust-it was finally time to strike out on his own. He began by forming Community Rights Counsel, where Doug used the Constitution's text and history to defend the environment that he loved. After a series of victories in key environmental cases, Doug closed up shop and decided to pursue an even more ambitious agenda. "We won ourselves out of business," Doug explained at the time. More importantly, as Doug added in a 2012 feature story in The New Republic, "I became convinced that the same approach could be employed in a much broader range of disputes." After immersing himself in the scholarship of Yale law professor Akhil Reed Amar, Doug founded Constitutional Accountability Center. Doug launched CAC in 2008, declaring, "The Constitution is, in its most vital respects, a progressive document." In the ensuing years, CAC-under Doug's leadership-has argued in scores of Supreme Court briefs that the Constitution's text and history point to progressive outcomes on a range of issues, including racial and gender equality, marriage equality, voting rights, and a robust federal government. But, Doug's work also extended beyond the courtroom. For instance, over the last year, he has worked with the National Constitution Center to launch a celebration of the three Amendments to the U.S. Constitution ratified after the Civil War, America's "Second Founding." He has also worked tirelessly to build a more progressive federal judiciary, urging the selection of the best and the brightest, while opposing nominees who would turn back the clock on Americans' rights and interests. In recognition of his profound influence on the nation's constitutional debates, Doug was named a "Visionary" by the National Law Journal in 2011. He was respected and lauded across the ideological spectrum for his intellectual integrity, fair-mindedness, and enduring contributions to our understanding of the Constitution. Doug died at age 51 on Saturday, September 26, 2015, in his home in Washington, D.C, due to complications from colon cancer. He was surrounded by friends and family during his final days. Douglas Townsend Kendall was born in Huntington, New York, on July 3, 1964, to George Hilton Kendall, Jr. and Judith Townsend Kendall. He and his brother and sister grew up in northwest New Jersey, raised by Doug's beloved mother, an elementary school teacher at the Mountain View School in Mount Olive Township, New Jersey. Doug received a scholarship to Phillips Exeter Academy. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1986, and from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1992. After law school, Doug became an associate at Crowell & Moring and then left to practice public interest law at the National Environmental Trust, before founding Community Rights Counsel in 1997 and Constitutional Accountability Center in 2008. For all of Doug's professional accomplishments, there was nothing that he valued more than spending time with his wife, Juliet, and daughter, Miracle. Doug was known to interrupt even the most important meeting at a moment's notice to field calls from his family-whether it was to discuss dinner plans or assist Miracle with a tricky math problem. Perhaps his greatest joy was spending a quiet weekend with his family and Labradors in their house in rural Maryland. Doug was also a beloved friend, who is remembered for his quiet humor, strong loyalty, and deep humanity. Doug is survived by his wife of 17 years, Juliet McKenna, an Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Superior Court, his daughter, Miracle McKenna Kendall, and his siblings, George Kendall and Carolyn Kendall Stoller, as well as countless friends and family who loved him deeply. A memorial service for friends and family will be held on Friday, October 16, 2015 in Washington, DC.A memorial service for friends and family will be held on Friday, October 16, 2015 in Washington, DC.