The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law (otherwise known as the Brandeis Center) is an advocacy organization that supports policy to promote the protection of Jewish civil rights and combatting antisemitism at American universities. It also addreses international human rights, legal advocacy, and counter-terrorism law. The organization was founded in 2011 and is named after the late Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Louis D. Brandeis, though the group has no link to Justice Brandeis. ^{1 2}

Programs

Education and Research

The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) branch of the Brandeis Center has previously hosted discussions on Jewish civil rights advocacy, campus antisemitism, international human rights law, pro-Israel legal advocacy, and counter-terrorism law. ³

The Brandeis Center Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (CALL), along with Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Hillel International, and Gibson Dunn LLP, previously established a call, text message, and email system to provide access to legal help for those who have experienced antisemitism. ⁴

The organization claims to provide resources and other documents to share civil rights law-related information through training programs, white papers, surveys, and webinars to educate on the signs of antisemitism while providing legal support for students. ² 24, April, October 31, October 23, October 6, November 17, November 1, July 13, March 14, January 12, and October 15. “White Papers: Brandeis Center.” Brandeis Center – Advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all, January 31, 2024. Accessed March 17, 2025. https://brandeiscenter.com/white-papers/.[/note] ⁵

The Brandeis Center also provides leadership training via internship, clerkship and fellowship openings for law students and undergraduates. ⁶

Litigation

In February 2025, the Brandeis Center, along with the ADL and the American Jewish Committee (AJC), settled a lawsuit against the Santa Ana Unified School District after the district had disbanded its Ethnic Studies Steering Committee, removing courses that had been accused of teaching antisemitism and agreeing to conduct public meetings in compliance with California’s Brown Act open meetings law. ⁷

In April 2023, following a complaint filed by the University of Vermont on instances of antisemitism on campus, the Brandeis Center announced that an investigation by the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) had led to the government and the university reaching an agreement to protect Jewish students from antisemitic discrimination. ⁸

In November 2023, the Brandeis Center and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education (JAFE) sued the University of California (UC) Regents, UC president Michael Drake, UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ, and other officials over claims of antisemitic discrimination at the University of California, Berkeley. The suit claimed that the university had banned Jewish and pro-Israel speakers from appearing on campus, which it argued was a violation of Jewish students’ free speech as well as violating university policy. The case is pending as of March 2025. ^{8 9}

As of 2025, the Brandeis Center and Jewish on Campus had also filed complaints regarding antisemitism with the United States Department of Education against Wellesley, State University of New York (SUNY) New Paltz and Brandeis Center against the University of Southern California (USC), Brooklyn College, and the University of Illinois. ¹⁰

In March 2025, the Brandeis Center filed several lawsuits against California State Polytechnic (CalPoly), Scripps College, and Etiwanda School District of San Bernardino County, California due to alleged antisemitic activities occurring on campus. Co-litigants include Jewish on Campus (JOC) in the Cal Poly Case, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Arnold & Porter LLP in the Scripps case, and StandWithUs and the ADL in the Etiwanda case. ¹¹

The Brandeis Center filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of the State of California for Alameda County against a coffee shop owner and East Bay Community Space for allegedly ejecting a man wearing a hat with the Star of David symbol on it along with his son in October 2024. By March 2025, its Center for Legal Innovation (CLI) filed legal action in the court, making it its first legal action since its inception. ¹²

Center for Legal Innovation (CLI)

Center for Legal Innovation (CLI) is a public interest law firm within the Brandeis Center established to address and recognize antisemitism within civil society. Its advisory board includes former United States Attorney General Bill Barr and former Solicitor General Paul Clement along with litigators from Paul Weiss, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, Holtzman Vogel, Shear/Jaffe LLP, Convoy McCarthy, Cooley, and Susman Godfrey LLP. ¹³

Advocacy

Alyza Lewin, president of Brandeis Center, was called as a witness before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled “Never to Be Silent: Stemming the Tide of Antisemitism in America” on March 5, 2025, along with Adela Cojab, a fellow at the National Jewish Advocacy Center (NJAC), and Asra Nomani, the editor of the Pearl Project. Opposing  witnesses called by Democratic members of the committee included Kevin Rachlin, the Washington D.C. director of Nexus, and Meirav Solomon, a Jewish student at Tufts University and co-vice president of left-of-center J Street U’s New England branch. Lewin, along with Cojab and Nomani, advocated for adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism as well as supporting the passage of the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2024 while Rachlin and Solomon accused President Donald Trump of attacking civil rights and freedoms. ^{14 15}

People

Kenneth Marcus is the founder, chairman and CEO of the Brandeis Center. He was previously a distinguished senior fellow at the Liberty and Law Center at George Mason University. Prior to working at the center, he served as Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights in the United States Department of Education during the first Trump administration. ¹⁶

Alyza Lewin is the president of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and works as a partner for law firm Lewin & Lewin, LLP. ¹⁷

1. “About Us: Brandeis Center.” Brandeis Center – Advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all, March 19, 2024. Accessed March 17, 2025. https://brandeiscenter.com/about-us/.
2. “Homepage: Brandeis Center.” Brandeis Center – Advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all. Accessed March 17, 2025. https://brandeiscenter.com/.
3. “Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law: UCLA Law.” UCLA School of Law. Accessed March 17, 2025. https://law.ucla.edu/life-ucla-law/student-organizations/louis-d-brandeis-center-human-rights-under-law.
4. “Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (Call).” Legal Protection. Accessed March 17, 2025. https://www.legal-protection.org/.
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6. “Leadership – Brandeis Center.” Brandeis Center – Advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all, October 29, 2024. Accessed March 17, 2025. https://brandeiscenter.com/leadership/.
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8. LDB-UCB-lawsuit-11.28.23.PDF. Accessed March 18, 2025. https://brandeiscenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/LDB-UCB-lawsuit-11.28.23.pdf.
9. Brandeiscenter. Accessed March 18, 2025. https://brandeiscenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Brandeis-v-Regents-Amended-Complaint-FILED.pdf.
10. Brandeiscenter. Accessed March 18, 2025. https://brandeiscenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/LDB-JOC-AU-T6-1.17.24-.pdf.
11. Wlodawsky, Samantha. “Legal Nonprofit Launches Civil Rights Blitz Against Campus Antisemitism in California (Algemeiner) – Brandeis Center.” Brandeis Center – Advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all, March 11, 2025. Accessed March 17, 2025. https://brandeiscenter.com/legal-nonprofit-launches-civil-rights-blitz-against-campus-antisemitism-in-california-algemeiner/.
12. Man kicked by Arab owner out of Oakland Café for being Jewish suing owner | the Jewish press – jewishpress.com | david israel | 4 adar 5785 – tuesday, march 4, 2025 | jewishpress.com. Accessed March 17, 2025. https://www.jewishpress.com/news/jewish-news/antisemitism-news/man-kicked-by-arab-owner-out-of-oakland-cafe-for-being-jewish-suing-owner/2025/03/04/
13. “Center for Legal Innovation – Brandeis Center.” Brandeis Center – Advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all, February 6, 2025. Accessed March 17, 2025. https://brandeiscenter.com/cli/.
14. ^[1] 3 takeaways from Senate Judiciary Hearing on Antisemitism | National News | U.S. news. Accessed March 18, 2025. https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2025-03-05/3-takeaways-from-senate-judiciary-hearing-on-antisemitism.
15. Rod, Marc. “Witness List for Senate Antisemitism Hearing Draws from Wide Array of Backgrounds.” Jewish Insider, March 4, 2025. Accessed March 17, 2025. https://jewishinsider.com/2025/03/witness-list-for-senate-antisemitism-hearing-draws-from-wide-array-of-backgrounds/.
16. “Kenneth Marcus.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 17, 2025. Accessed March 17, 2025. https://linkedin.com/in/klmarcus/
17. LinkedIn: Log in or sign up. Accessed March 18, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyza-lewin-47b125?trk=pub-pbmap.