Ann Fagan Ginger

1925 - 2025

Ann Fagan Ginger
07/11/1925 - 08/20/2025
Ann Fagan Ginger, a fearless and visionary American attorney, writer, educator, and civil rights pioneer, passed away peacefully on August 20, 2025, at her home in Berkeley, California, just weeks after celebrating her 100th birthday. A towering figure in human rights and international peace law, Ann founded the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute and received a lifetime achievement award from the National Lawyers Guild. Her seven decades of unwavering dedication to justice inspired generations of activists, lawyers, and scholars.
Born on July 11, 1925, in East Lansing, Michigan, to radical parents of English-Quaker, Irish-Catholic, and Lithuanian-Jewish descent, Ann's commitment to social justice took root early. She graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1947, one of only eight women in her class. Despite her credentials, law firms wouldn't hire her because, in her words, "it didn't occur to them [...] that a woman could be a lawyer." She began her career as an administrator at the National Lawyers Guild, the first step in what would become an extraordinary legal journey spanning seven decades.
Ann practiced labor law in Ohio (1948-1952) before moving to Boston with her then-husband, historian Ray Ginger, whom she had met at Michigan. During the McCarthy era, Ann and her then-husband refused loyalty oaths, leading to their expulsion from Harvard Business School and relocation to New York City. For twenty years, Ann was barred from practicing law because she refused to take a loyalty oath and was targeted by the FBI. During this challenging period, Ann served as an administrator and later editor of The Guild Practitioner for the National Lawyers Guild while raising two sons, Thomas and James Ginger. She also spearheaded efforts to dismantle McCarthyism, including arguing and winning the case Raley v. Ohio (23 April 1959) before the U.S. Supreme Court, upholding the due process rights of a target of Ohio's state-level Un-American Activities Committee. In 1955, with remarkable foresight, she launched the Civil Liberties Docket, a groundbreaking archive of civil rights litigation that became an essential resource for lawyers and activists nationwide.
Ann's courage in the face of adversity defined her activism. In 1962, she was the only woman lawyer at the first joint meeting of Black and White attorneys in the South, co-sponsored by the National Lawyers Guild and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta. There, she was photographed alongside Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and many other civil rights leaders, speaking in favor of the movement and presciently predicting the coming Women's Rights Movement. Two years later, during Berkeley's Free Speech Movement protests, she was photographed atop a police car on the same day Mario Savio delivered his iconic speech - a powerful symbol of her lifelong commitment to free expression. In the early 1970s, she defended Angela Davis, amplifying her role in the civil rights movement.
In 1965, Ann founded the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute in Berkeley, naming it after educator and political philosopher Alexander Meiklejohn, whose eloquent First Amendment advocacy during the Cold War she deeply admired. Under her leadership, MCLI became a powerhouse for legal research, education, and advocacy, training hundreds of interns and volunteers while publishing influential works and providing crucial amicus briefs to courts. In 1995, she spoke at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, amplifying her global influence. In 2009, through MCLI, she presented a report at the CERD conference in Geneva, introducing the Oscar Grant case and exposing U.S. failures to meet obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, while advocating for the Cuban Five.
Ann pioneered the integration of public international law, military law, and constitutional law into what she termed "peace law," a legal innovation that helped secure acquittals for nuclear weapons protesters and other activists. Her expertise made her a sought-after expert witness and lecturer at institutions including U.C. Hastings, Santa Clara University, and San Francisco State University.
Her legal achievements were groundbreaking. She authored or edited two dozen books, including The National Lawyers Guild: From Roosevelt Through Reagan (1988), Nuclear Weapons Are Illegal (1998), and the award-winning Challenging U.S. Human Rights Violations Since 9/11 (2005). Her scholarship emphasized the enforceability of international human rights treaties in U.S. courts, a domain of legal thought that she pioneered. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, she exposed human rights violations on the international stage, advocating for justice for affected communities. Throughout her career, Ann's support for conscientious objectors helped many navigate their legal cases, reflecting her commitment to peace and individual rights.
Ann's impact extended far beyond the courtroom. Serving alternately as Chair or Vice-Chair of Berkeley's Peace and Justice Commission for 13 years beginning in 1986, she wrote the resolution establishing Berkeley as a Human Rights City and likely influenced the city's 1986 Nuclear-Free Berkeley Act. She spearheaded Berkeley's groundbreaking effort to become the first U.S. city to file compliance reports with international human rights treaties; work that began around 2009 and influenced a 2010 California State Assembly resolution encouraging other localities to follow suit.
Her lifetime of service earned numerous honors: Outstanding Woman of Berkeley (1990), a Lifetime Achievement Award from Berkeley's Commission on the Status of Women (2009), a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Lawyers Guild, and recognition from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (2019), whose California leaders called her a "jewel."
As attorney Peter Goldberger wrote in celebrating her centennial, "Her intellect, courage, creativity, and determination make her a worthy role model for all those who strive to combine the highest professional standards with a dedication to steady principles." Rev. Daniel Buford, former MCLI Director, called her "the oracle of justice" - a sentiment echoed by hundreds of interns, colleagues, and activists who regarded her as a beacon of human dignity and freedom.
Ann is survived by her son, James Ginger, of Berkeley. She was preceded in death by her son, Thomas Ginger, a lawyer who passed away in 1998 from multiple sclerosis complications, and by her beloved companion of over 20 years, J.R. "Richard" Challacombe, a writer, photographer, journalist, environmentalist, anti-imperialist, and WWII conscientious objector, who died in May 2020. Ann was previously married to Ray Ginger and later to James F. Wood; both marriages eventually ended.
Ann's legacy lives on through the countless lives she touched and the legal precedents she established. Her century of courage, intellect, and unwavering commitment to justice continues to inspire all who strive for a better world.
A memorial service will be held in honor of United Nations/Human Rights Day, a day Ann deeply cherished. The service is planned for Saturday, November 29, 2025, at 2:30 pm.
A second service celebrating Ann's life will take place on Saturday, June 6, 2026, at 2:30 pm at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., where she was a long-time member.
Details will be announced on the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists website (bfuu.org) and on the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute website (mclihumanrights.org) and Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/mcli.org).
A tribute page has been created where donations to the Ann Fagan Ginger Legacy Fund may be made to support publication of her work in human rights and peace law, including her forthcoming memoir. The page also invites those touched by Ann's life to share memories, stories, and photos celebrating her enduring impact on justice and humanity: https://everloved.com/life-of/ann-ginger/