Morris Dees Jr., SPLC co-founder, receives American Bar Association's highest honor (video)

Morris Dees Jr., co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, earlier this week received the ABA Medal, the highest honor from the American Bar Association in recognition of his careerlong pursuit against racism and injustice.

"To be recognized by an organization that I consider to be the glue that holds our whole legal system together in America, the American Bar Association, to be embraced by you, erases all that loneliness and tough fights that I've been through with help of so many people,” Dees said during a ceremony in Chicago.

Dees, reared in Montgomery, earned his law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law and founded the Southern Poverty Law Center in 1971 with Joseph J. Levin Jr. Throughout his career, Dees has won a number of civil rights cases and is known for the center's work chronicling activities of white supremacist hate groups.