Burton Allen Joseph was an American civil rights attorney

Attorney at law

An attorney at law in the United States is a practitioner in a court of law who is legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court on the retainer of clients. Alternative terms include counselor and lawyer...

. He represented clients in free speech

Freedom of speech

Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...

 cases, and represented the American Library Association

American Library Association

The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....

 in its suit that ultimately found the Communications Decency Act

Communications Decency Act

The Communications Decency Act of 1996 was the first notable attempt by the United States Congress to regulate pornographic material on the Internet. In 1997, in the landmark cyberlaw case of Reno v. ACLU, the United States Supreme Court struck the anti-indecency provisions of the Act.The Act was...

 unconstitutional. He pushed the American Civil Liberties Union

American Civil Liberties Union

The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...

 of Illinois to represent the National Socialist Party of America

National Socialist Party of America

The National Socialist Party of America was a Chicago-based organization founded in 1970 by Frank Collin shortly after he left the National Socialist White People's Party. The NSWPP had been the American Nazi Party until shortly after the assassination of leader George Lincoln Rockwell in 1967...

, an offshoot of the American Nazi Party, in its desire to march in Skokie, Illinois

Skokie, Illinois

Skokie is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Its name comes from a Native American word for "fire". A Chicago suburb, for many years Skokie promoted itself as "The World's Largest Village". Its population, per the 2000 census, was 63,348...

. That case resulted in National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie

National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie

National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie, 432 U.S. 43 , was a United States Supreme Court case dealing with freedom of assembly.-Facts of the case:...

, 432 U.S. 43 (1977), a Supreme Court opinion that determined the Party had the right to march.

Joseph was a partner at Joseph, Lichtenstein & Levinson, a Chicago law firm, and also defended demonstrators arrested at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968. Born in Chicago, his parents ran a business caretaking Jewish cemeteries. Joseph obtained his undergraduate degree

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 from the University of Illinois, graduated from DePaul law

DePaul University College of Law

DePaul University College of Law is a law school located in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Founded in 1897 as the Illinois College of Law, the school became part of DePaul University in 1912 and is one of the academic colleges of DePaul, a Big East Conference university. The College is known for its...

 in 1952 and started his practice in Chicago soon thereafter. Among his many clients was the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is a United States non-profit organization created in 1986 to protect the First Amendment rights of comics creators, publishers, and retailers covering legal expenses....

. In addition to his legal work, he was the executive director of the Playboy Foundation

Playboy Foundation

The Playboy Foundation is a corporate-giving organization that provides grants to non-profit groups involved in fighting censorship and researching human sexuality. It gives grants and in-kind contributions, such as advertising space in the Playboy magazine to organizations concerned with US First...

, the charitable arm of Playboy

Playboy

Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...

 Enterprises, for nine years. He was an adjunct professor at the Chicago–Kent College of Law for ten years.