Network Member Ellen Martina Luff Dies

NETWORK NEWS January 1995

Ellen Martina Luff, 52, a member of the National Drug Strategy Network since its founding and active in the areas of women's rights, civil liberties, and drug policy reform, died Nov. 22, 1994 of cancer (Obituaries, Washington Post, Dec. 11, 1994, p. B6).

Luff served as an attorney for the Maryland Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union. In 1988 she successfully argued that a sentence for drunk driving that required attendance at meetings of the Alcoholics Anonymous' spiritual program was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. She was a hard-working lobbyist in Anapolis for drug policy reform.

Luff served as counsel to the Maryland Equal Rights Commission, a lawyer to the Legal Aid Bureau, an Assistant State's Attorney in Baltimore, and legislative liaison staff member to the Maryland Commission on Aging.

She founded Marylanders for Drug Policy Reform and served on the board of the Annapolis Holistic Health Community. Contributions in her name can be made to the organization of your choice.

[Ellen lived a life of service to humanity. Her dedication to the good of the public and the high quality of her legal work were an inspiration to the lawyers who knew her. I miss her. -- EES]