[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 149 (Wednesday, October 23, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1552]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING MR. KENNETH TILSEN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. KEITH ELLISON

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 23, 2013

  Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Kenneth Tilsen and 
recognize his contributions to the expansion of liberty and justice 
inside and outside the courtroom.
   Mr. Tilsen measured his success by the number of people he helped, 
by the body of law he fought to uphold, and by the countless hours he 
worked to amplify the voices of disadvantaged and oppressed peoples. 
Born to immigrant parents in 1927, Ken learned compassion and 
understanding through example. His father founded the first company to 
build integrated housing in Saint Paul. Ken grew up in St. Paul's most 
racially diverse neighborhood, and attended integrated Marshall High 
School. He studied Law at the University of Minnesota, graduating at 
the top of his class in 1950. After practicing as a managing partner at 
a major firm in the Twin Cities, Mr. Tilsen left to begin his own 
private practice, so that he could represent anti-war, anti-draft, and 
civil rights cases. As his son described, ``he wanted to define for 
himself a better kind of law practice and be a better kind of lawyer.'' 
And that is exactly what he did.
   Mr. Tilsen's career traces a line through some of the most important 
social movements of our time. He defended the Minnesota 8, who were 
accused of raiding Selective Service offices in protest of the draft; 
he represented the Southern Landowners Alliance of Minnesota in a long 
battle to protect wilderness and farmland from unneeded power lines; he 
fought as one of the major attorneys of the Wounded Knee Legal Defense/
Offense Committee against FBI and police misconduct, and continued the 
fight against historical revisionism of that case for decades 
afterward. He worked for the Venezuelan whistle-blower Rene Hurtado, 
the University of Minnesota's Afro-American Action Committee, and the 
protesters from the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul. 
Many powerful individuals disapproved of his work, and he paid for his 
activism through years of harassment, and even questioning by the House 
Un-American Activities Committee.
   But Mr. Tilsen's body of work did not go unnoticed, and he was 
recognized with awards such as the ACLU Earl Larson Award, the National 
Lawyers Guild Lifetime Contribution to Social Justice Award, and being 
named one of ``Minnesota's 100 most influential lawyers of all time.''
   Mr. Tilsen practiced law until 1993, turning then to teaching at the 
Hamline University School of Law. ``Ken loved the law,'' his son wrote. 
``He was personally offended when it was twisted to serve the rich and 
powerful at the expense of normal people trying to live their lives.'' 
He used that passion to better the law--to better the state of 
Minnesota and to better the United States of America. The legacy Mr. 
Tilsen leaves is a valuable lesson to every citizen: that our 
government is only as strong as those who are willing to fight for 
``the little guy.''

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