Dr. Alice Green, founder and director of the Center for Law and Justice in Albany, has died.

She founded the organization in 1985.

Green is a prominent advocate for local civil rights issues, including those affecting poor people of color.

According to the biography on the organization’s website, she has a doctorate in criminal justice and three master’s degrees.

Green is an associate professor at the University at Albany. She has been a secondary school teacher and social worker. She was also the director of Trinity Institution, a youth and family services center in the South End.

She served in Governor Mario Cuomo’s administration as deputy director of the New York State Division of Probation and Correctional Alternatives. Green left that position in 1992. She also worked for the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Green is also a published author and co-author of Law Never Here, A Social History of African American Responses to Issues of Crime and Justice.

Mayor Kathy Sheehan issued the following statement on Green’s death:

“Dr. Alice Green dedicated her life to eradicating systemic racism. A child of the Adirondacks, Alice used her unique perspective as one of only two Black families in a small northern mining town to shape the advocacy work that led her for decades in Albany’s historically discriminatory neighborhoods – all in an effort to help often disadvantaged communities rise up.

Alice also worked closely with my administration, the Albany Police Department, and various local organizations to help Albany become the then third city in the country to implement a Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program – one of many efforts to improve community policing and become a model for 21st century policing strategies.

In addition to her activism, Alice was also involved as a local philanthropist. Alice worked closely with her husband, Charles, to support various community-based organizations and public initiatives dedicated to reversing the divestments of the past. Initiatives supported by the Touhey Foundation included the City’s 2,025 Trees by 2025 program. Thanks to Alice and Charles’ support, we were able to reach our goal more than a year ahead of schedule.

My deepest condolences go out to Alice’s husband Charles and the entire Green & Touhey family at this difficult time.”

University at Albany President Havidán Rodríguez also released a statement on the death of Green, a 2022 Citizen Laureate who, along with her husband, Charles Touhey, founded the Touhey Family Fellows Program at the University at Albany’s School of Education.

“The entire University at Albany community mourns the loss of a great advocate, philanthropist and educator. Alice Green’s name has long been synonymous with the fight for justice and equality in the Capital Region and beyond. She will be remembered as a tireless advocate for equity for people in marginalized communities and a believer in the transformative power of education. Alice and her husband, Charles Touhey, created a program at UAlbany to diversify the teaching and counseling professions in our region, and Alice spoke regularly at New York State Writers Institute events and to UAlbany students. In 2022, UAlbany recognized Alice’s commitment to social justice and advocacy, as well as her ongoing commitment to underserved communities, by naming her the University’s Citizen Laureate.”

“Alice was a great friend and trusted advisor to me personally, and someone who made the world a more just and fair place. She leaves us far too soon, but her incredible legacy lives on. We are so proud to have her as part of our Great Dane family.”