View source for Voluntary Committee of Lawyers

{{Infobox organization
| name = Voluntary Committee of Lawyers
| abbreviation = VCL
| formation = 1927
| purpose    = [[Association Against the Prohibition Amendment]]
| location   = [[United States]]
| key_people = [[Joseph H. Choate, Jr.]]
}}

The original '''Voluntary Committee of Lawyers'''  (VCL) was founded in 1927 to bring about the [[repeal of prohibition]] and the [[Volstead Act]]. The VCL provided legal support for the [[Association Against the Prohibition Amendment]], an umbrella organization that opposed prohibition.  With its urging, the [[American Bar Association]] called for repeal in 1928. Under the leadership of [[Joseph H. Choate, Jr.]], lawyers in every state were actively involved in working to bring about repeal, which occurred in 1933. At that time, the VCL closed its books and ceased to exist.<ref name="Fahey">David M. Fahey, Jon S. Miller, eds., ''Alcohol and Drugs in North America: A Historical Encyclopedia'' ([[ABC-CLIO]], 2013), {{ISBN|978-1598844795}}, pp. 735-736. [https://books.google.com/books?id=UXHYAQAAQBAJ&dq=%22Voluntary+Committee+of+Lawyers%22&pg=PA735 Excerpts available] at [[Google Books]].</ref><ref>Robert Fredrick Burk, ''The Corporate State and the Broker State: The Du Ponts and American National Politics, 1925-1940'' ([[Harvard University Press]], 1990), {{ISBN|978-0674172722}}, pp.57 & passim.  [https://books.google.com/books?id=v7g1kOz2ycgC&q=VCL&pg=PA57 Excerpts available] at [[Google Books]].</ref>

==Modern incarnation== 
A modern version of the Voluntary Committee of Lawyers was incorporated in 1996, established through its founding committee, including former U.S. Attorneys General [[Elliot Richardson]] and [[Nicholas Katzenbach]], former American Bar Association President George Bushnell, former federal judge [[A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.]] and labor lawyer [[Theodore W. Kheel]].  The modern VCL was inspired by the earlier group of the same name, but focused on the modern [[war on drugs]].<ref name="Fahey"/><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-01 |title=Why Do Some Personal Injury Cases Go to Trial? |url=https://www.thebentonlawfirm.com/2022/12/01/why-some-personal-injury-cases-go-to-trial/ |access-date=2024-03-25 |language=en}}</ref><ref>Robert Hirshon, [https://www.cnbc.com/2010/04/20/legalizing-marijuana-an-issue-that-just-wont-go-away.html "Legalizing Marijuana: An Issue That Just Won't Go Away"], [[CNBC]], April 20, 2010.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Law and Society Association]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/alcohol/vcl1.htm The VCL: Architects of Repeal]
* {{cite web |url=https://www.alcoholproblemsandsolutions.org/Controversies/Voluntary-Committee-of-Lawyers.html |title=Voluntary Committee of Lawyers |last=Hanson, Ph.D. |first=David J. |website=AlcoholProblemsandSolutions.org |date=19 September 2019 |publisher=[[State University of New York]]}}

{{prohibition|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Voluntary Committee Of Lawyers}}
[[Category:Prohibition in the United States]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1927]]
[[Category:1927 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Organizations disestablished in 1933]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1996]]
[[Category:Political organizations based in the United States]]
[[Category:Legal organizations based in the United States]]
[[Category:1933 disestablishments in the United States]]

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