David D. Cole

David D. Cole
Alma mater	Yale Law School
Occupation	National Legal Director
Employer	American Civil Liberties Union

David D. Cole is the National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Before joining the ACLU in January 2017, Cole was the Hon. George J. Mitchell Professor in Law and Public Policy at the Georgetown University Law Center from March 2014 through December 2016. He has published in various legal fields including constitutional law, national security, criminal justice, civil rights, and law and literature. Cole has litigated several significant First Amendment cases in the Supreme Court of the United States, as well a number of influential cases concerning civil rights and national security. He is also a legal correspondent to several media outlets and publications.

Cole graduated magna cum laude from Yale College in 1980 and received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Yale Law School in 1984. After graduating from law school, Cole served as a law clerk to Judge Arlin M. Adams of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He then became a staff attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights, where he litigated a number of major First Amendment cases, including Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989), United States v. Eichman, 496 U.S. 928 (1990), and United States v. Haggerty (consolidated with Eichman). He later served as a voluntary staff attorney at the Center, where he also sat on the Board of Directors from 1996-2003.