Scott Holmes

Scott Holmes is a senior clinical professor of law at North Carolina Central University in Durham, where he is the director of the Civil Litigation Clinic, co-director of the Social Justice and Racial Equity Institute. He teaches Criminal Procedure, Evidence, Legal Problems of the Poor, and Restorative Justice.

His clinic handles civil matters related to police excessive force, First Amendment violation of protester rights, prison conditions, fair housing, and eviction defense. His research and writing focus on how racial inequity impacts the rule of law. He investigates and researches issues of free speech and assembly. He also organizes and explores restorative justice approaches to conflict.

Before joining the faculty, he was a partner at the law Lockamy firm, where he handled serious criminal cases in state and federal court, at trial and on appeal.

He went to UNC School of Law and completed the Friday Fellowship for Human Relations. He clerked Judge John Martin at the North Carolina Court of Appeals and worked as a public defender in Durham for a few years before moving to private practice. He has worked as a trial lawyer and appellate attorney in civil rights and criminal defense cases, representing anti-racism protesters who removed the confederate monument in Durham and Chapel Hill, jail condition protesters, Black Lives Matter protesters, Moral Monday protesters, panhandlers, Immigration and Dreamer activists, and Occupy protesters. He has assisted victims of police misconduct.

Scott is concerned with the way our justice system harms poor and vulnerable members of our community, including children, immigrants, and the mentally ill. He also works to challenge racial disparities in law enforcement, criminal justice, and housing practices. Having represented protesters, preachers, and panhandlers, he works to empower and amplify marginalized voices in our community.