Meet our New Legal Director, Tim Macdonald

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By Annie Kurtz, Senior Staff Attorney

ACLU of Colorado is honored to welcome Tim Macdonald as our new Legal Director. Tim was brought on as the Legal Director of the ACLU of Colorado in March 2023.

Prior to joining our organization, he was a trial and appellate lawyer at Arnold & Porter for 24 years. Tim also clerked for Emilio M. Garza on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in 1998 and had a fellowship with the Legal Resources Centre in Cape Town, South Africa in 1997, where he assisted human rights lawyers on land restitution, housing, and environmental matters.

Tim has far-ranging trial and appellate experience and has tried cases across the country in various state and federal courts. In private practice, Tim had been a cooperating counsel for the ACLU. In 2022, he led the trial team on behalf of peaceful protestors who were victims of excessive force by Denver police following the murder of George Floyd. This case helped him realize he needed to do this work every day.

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Tim believes uplifting community members who have lived experience or who are suffering from trauma is the best way to support them and others in their community.

In the short time he has served as ACLU of Colorado’s Legal Director, Tim has already led our team on multiple important legal filings; one to end the criminalization of the unhoused and four different Amicus filings:

  • Logsdon v. U.S. Marshal Service — We argue that individuals must have a right to sue federal officers for using excessive force in violation of fundamental Fourth Amendment rights.
  • United States of America v. Hay — We argue that conducting warrantless long-term, continuous surveillance of a person’s home using cameras that are posted on utility poles nearby violates the Fourth Amendment.
  • People v. Clark — We argue that racial bias has no place in our jury system and the Colorado Supreme Court must remand this case for a new trial after a judge refused to excuse for cause a potential juror who made openly racist statements during jury selection.
  • Counterman v. CO — We argue that the government must prove bad intent before criminally prosecuting someone for online free speech.

“I have enjoyed every second of my work at the ACLU of Colorado,” said Tim. “I am incredibly honored to be a member of the ACLU of Colorado team and I look forward to the work ahead protecting and expanding civil rights and civil liberties across the state of Colorado.”

Tim Macdonald succeeds Mark Silverstein, who will remain as Legal Director Emeritus after 31 years with the ACLU.