Joel Thornton, Esq.

Joel Thornton is Chief Operations Officer and Director of Advocacy for Child and Parental Rights Campaign, Inc. He brings thirty years of law practice experience to this role. He is an experienced litigator in the area of child protective services representing parents’ rights in court. He has worked on cases in the federal court system across the United States, including numerous cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. He has also worked as an international human rights lawyer litigating in Norway and before the European Court of Human Rights in France. Joel graduated from Berry College and received his law degree from Georgia State University College of Law..

Joel has served as Chief of Staff to the State School Superintendent of Georgia, where he worked on a variety of legislative initiatives and educational policies and projects. Prior to law school, Joel worked as a middle school teacher in the Floyd County, Georgia public schools. He has published two books, one a practical guide on leadership. Joel worked for over fourteen years with an internationally known public interest law firm where he worked on a variety of civil rights cases, including before the U.S. Supreme Court, and helped manage the development and operations of the firm. Joel has appeared on numerous national television and radio programs. He and his wife have two children.