The ACLU of Colorado has chosen its first new legal director in nearly 30 years. Tim Macdonald, who led a landmark trial last year over Denver police’s use of force during the 2020 George Floyd protests, will replace retiring Mark Silverstein.

Macdonald comes to the ACLU from a role as head of the Denver office at Arnold & Porter, a corporate law firm with offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia. But the law firm also partners with the ACLU on civil rights cases, including one that went to trial last year in federal court over how law enforcement handled protests that proliferated in 2020 in response to George Floyd’s death during his arrest by Minneapolis police. The jury found police used excessive force against demonstrators in the early days of protests, and awarded a group of 12 people $14 million total.

“I can’t wait to wake up every day working to protect, defend and extend civil rights across our state,” Macdonald said in a statement. “I have partnered on cases with the ACLU for many years and realized that it was time to follow my heart and join the organization full-time.” 

Jury finds Denver police violated rights of protesters during 2020 George Floyd demonstrations; awards $14M

In addition to leading last year’s trial, he also participated in a 2011 case challenging the constitutionality of a Douglas County School District voucher program that allowed students to spend tuition vouchers at religious schools. Macdonald partnered with the ACLU in 2010 for a lawsuit against law enforcement officials in Jefferson County and the Colorado Highway Patrol over the arrest and strip search of a woman detained by mistaken identity.

At Arnold & Porter, Macdonald served on the firm’s Global Pro Bono Committee, the Global Policy Committee and was a mentor in the Black Attorney Mentoring program. He received his law and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan.

ACLU sues Denver police detective over SWAT raid of Montbello home

Mark Silverstein stepped into the legal director role in 1996. He announced his retirement in May, and will have the title of legal director emeritus. Silverstein has been the public face of every case the ACLU of Colorado has been involved with for the past two-and-a-half decades.

The organization reached a settlement in a class-action suit filed in 2002 to end a practice by the Denver Police Department of surveilling people involved in peaceful protests and activist work, labeling them in police files as extremists.

Another case filed in 2018 accused El Paso County’s sheriff of violating state law by refusing to release people who had posted bond or finished their sentence, at the request of federal immigration officials. The ACLU obtained a permanent injunction against the practice.

ACLU of Colorado's legal director announces retirement