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This week, we are pleased to spotlight Michael Langley (MLS ’22), executive director of the Florida Justice Institute (FJI). With his appointment, Michael became the first Black executive director of the organization, a nonprofit public interest law firm advocating for Florida’s disenfranchised residents and underinvested communities.
Prior to joining FJI, Michael was director of the Social Impact & Racial Equity Advancement Project at Greater Phoenix Leadership and racial equity advisor for the nonprofit community development financial institution DreamSpring. Michael also has his Executive MBA from the University of Arizona Eller College of Management.
Michael recently shared with us about his new position and his University of Arizona Law MLS experience:
You already had a thriving career before you started the Master of Legal Studies program. Why did you decide to pursue an MLS?
Law always fascinated me but it really came into focus in 2020 with the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent examinations of the U.S. criminal justice system across the nation. I pursued a concentration in law and economics to better understand the economic implications and how the historic significance shaped the current policy landscape. Simply put, the societal ROI is deficient due to the collateral consequences of overpolicing, mass incarceration and tough-on-crime policies. Citigroup even quantified the disparities in the criminal justice system as $16 trillion in lost economic value to U.S. GDP over a 20-year period.
How has the MLS benefitted your career?
With my business background, I wanted to bring a practical solution to the table. Leveraging my legal education and experience, I collaborated with the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) and R3 Score Technologies to launch a pilot to connect formerly incarcerated returning citizens with entrepreneurship capital. The first business we funded operated in Phoenix and paid it forward when it hired other returning citizens. The pilot eventually expanded across 27 states and I’ve testified in front of then-members of the Arizona Legislature about its potential as an anti-recidivism tool.
What would you like readers to know about the significance of your being the first Black executive director of the Florida Justice Institute?
As the first Black executive director of Florida Justice Institute in its 45-year history, I have enormous shoes to fill from a pioneer in Florida’s legal community, Randy Berg. Randy laid the foundation to establish Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account (IOLTA) funding programs for legal aid around the nation. It’s not lost on me that elected and appointed leadership in Florida and other states remain hostile to the mere mention of policies that led to the racial disparities of today, and thus, the need for these initiatives.
Ultimately, proportionate representation, access to resources that meet one’s needs, and a recognition of all viewpoints are moral and economic imperatives. As an organization, we are intent on ending the practice of criminalizing someone’s pursuit of happiness (i.e., lifestyle) and their immutable characteristics (i.e., identity). We mustn’t be fearful of a full and accurate account of U.S. history. We do ourselves a grave disservice when the nation doesn’t fulfill its promise and potential.
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