SULLIVAN COUNTY,  NY — The executive director of the Sullivan County Human Rights Commission, Lorraine Lopez-Janove, has been appointed to the board of the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), the Lower Hudson Valley Chapter. The NYCLU works to protect and defend the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, the U.S. and New York State Constitutions, including freedom of speech and religion, and the right to privacy, equality and due process of law. The NYCLU provides educational programs on civil rights and civil liberties, advocates for the passage of legislation that defends civil rights and liberties, monitors the actions of local governments and fields complaints of possible civil liberties violations.

Lopez-Janove has a long history of working for human rights and civil rights. She was a senior associate at New York University’s Metro Center; the statewide manager of the New York State Education Department’s Regional Student Support Centers and NY 21st Century Community Learning Centers. She taught at Fallsburg Central School District, and while teaching at Orange/Ulster BOCES she coordinated and taught classes to incarcerated young adults in jail and adult males in federal prison.

The Sullivan County Human Rights Commission is a county-wide program concerned with eliminating discrimination and prejudice, and fostering mutual understanding and self-respect among all racial, religious, age and ethnic groups in Sullivan County.  The Commission meets the second Thursday of every month at 5:30 p.m. in the Legislative Hearing Room of the Government Center in Monticello.  The meetings are open to the public.