Campaign Legal Center (CLC) joins the legal community, friends, family and colleagues in mourning the loss of Charles Fried — an esteemed scholar and longtime Harvard Law School professor, former Solicitor General and model of nonpartisan commitment to effective democracy.
Professor Fried served on CLC’s Board of Directors from 2016 to 2021, strongly supporting the organization’s efforts to end partisan gerrymandering, protect the electoral process in 2020 and more.
To honor professor Fried’s legacy, impact and dedication to democracy, CLC last year announced the creation of the Charles Fried Fellowship — with professor Fried’s enthusiastic support. The goal of this fellowship is to prepare the next generation of attorneys dedicated to advancing democracy through law.
The fellowship will be awarded each year to a recent law school graduate who will devote their time to one or more of CLC’s focus areas: voting and elections, redistricting, campaign finance and government ethics.
Charles was a beloved teacher and mentor of aspiring lawyers for decades. His message to students focused on the need to respect the rule of law, an essential bulwark of democracy. The fellowship will be devoted to protecting the values he exemplified in his teaching.
Professor Fried served as the Beneficial Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, where he taught since 1961. He was Solicitor General of the United States, 1985 to 1989, and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, 1995 to 1999.