Peggy Brooks joined the board of the ACLU-NJ in 2007, because of her concern about expanding threats to civil liberties. Alarmed that federal officials seemed to believe they could operate above the law and in secret, Peggy recognized that the ACLU was (and is) often the only organization willing to fight back. Peggy is also proud of the role the ACLU plays in NJ where, again, it is often the only organization willing to challenge official abuse of civil liberties -- by bureaucrats during elections, by local officials who refuse to comply with open government mandates, by state and local police who single out members of minority groups and by prison officials who subject those under their control to harsh and unconstitutional conditions.

Peggy graduated from Barnard College, and has an MA in political science from Columbia University and a JD from Columbia Law School. She worked as a civil rights lawyer on prison brutality, employment discrimination and privacy cases and for over a decade ran a non-profit legal advocacy group in New York City. Peggy also worked as a legal writer on a variety of projects for the Center for Substance Abuse Services, part of the federal Department of Health and Human Services.

Peggy serves as chair of the personnel committee and, as a member of the newsletter committee, helps edit the quarterly newsletter. She also works with staff on other publications put out by the ACLU-NJ.