What is southern poverty law center

A:The Southern Poverty Law Center is headquartered in Montgomery, AL. Early in their existence they filed suits against a number of true hate groups (klan, skinheads, etc.) and successfully bankrupted them. Their track record since then has been one of greed, demagoguery, scaremongering and vicious smears to promote themselves as the watchdog of hate. The Montgomery Advertiser wrote a nine part investigative series in 1994 which was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, however, it was not widely read outside the southeast. Progressive Magazine published a scathing article in 1988, but it, too was not widely circulated. In November 2000, Ken Silverstein published another scathing report entitled The Church of Morris Dees in Harper's Magazine. Link: http://georgiaheritagecouncil.org/site2/commentary/The_Church_of_Morris_... Silverstein wrote several followup pieces in 2007; links to those are included at the link above. Georgia Heritage Council published an ongoing series beginning in August 2009 (they had intermittantly wrote about SPLC for over five years). The first includes many links to resources, investigative reports, opinion and news stories related to SPLC. Link here: http://georgiaheritagecouncil.org/site2/commentary/davis-scroggins_SPLC_... GHC also has a HATE WATCH page (classifying SPLC as a hate/propaganda machine) which has numerous links to news/opinion regarding SPLC. http://georgiaheritagecouncil.org/site2/hatewatch.phtml The evidence against SPLC is considerable and damning; nevertheless, numerous media outlets quote them as if they were a credible source. In April 2009, their reports and propaganda were largely published directly into a report issued April 7, 2009 by the Department of Homeland Security. Backlash against this report, which was a sweeping indictment of all right-leaning groups as well as U.S. military veterans, was immediate. Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R, WI) was every vocal in criticizing the report and questioning Secretary Janet Napolitano on its content and sourcing. Details are in the GHC link above, however, the flavor of the rebuke can be seen in Rep. Hoekstra's 4/15/09 letter to Napolitano: http://hoekstra.house.gov/UploadedFiles/Hoekstra_Ltr_to_Napolitano_15_Ap... The DHS report was quickly withdrawn 'for review' and no further word has been heard on it. Apparently, SPLC has penetrated the DHS and contributes all its intelligence/propaganda for DHS publication. In addition to their media echo chamber, the SPLC has embedded itself with a number of non-federal law enforcement agencies and some even use SPLC's reporting of hate groups as credible intel. The SPLC is also lauded by some in academia, where Morris Dees often speaks to unsuspecting students to tell war stories and promote himself. The University of Alabama's law school even presents a "Morris Dees Justice Award" each year to an attorney who works to serve the underprivileged. A former associate of Dees, Stephen B. Bright called Dees "a fraud and a con man" in a letter to the Dean of the Law School in Tuscaloosa. Ken Silverstein published the letter in one of his 2007 followups.
Answer by stevescroggins