Malcolm L. Lazin (born December 5, 1943) is an American social activist, prosecutor, entrepreneur, and educator.
Lazin is the founder and executive director of Equality Forum, a national and international LGBTQ+ civil rights organization with an educational focus.Holmes, Kristin E. "Equality Forum Still at Work after 20 years." Philadelphia Inquirer, 6 May 2012, p. B01. In this role, he produced the largest annual national and international LGBTQ+ civil rights forum, facilitated the installation of 13 government-approved historic markers, and organized the 40th and 50th anniversary celebrations of the start of the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement in front of Independence Hall. Additionally, Lazin established and supervises LGBT History Month,Bellino, Vince. "Malcolm Lazin talks about this year's Equality Forum." Philadelphia Weekly, 26 July 26, 2016. the largest online educational resource of its kind in the world.
Previously, Lazin served as a federal prosecutor overseeing grand jury investigations into white-collar crime and public corruption. He chaired the Pennsylvania Crime Commission, which investigated organized crime. He is credited with lighting the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution. Lazin also successfully spearheaded the effort to include Washington Square, the largest burial site for Washington's army, located in Philadelphia, in Independence National Historical Park.
Among other honors, Lazin has received the U.S. Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award (the Department of Justice's highest honor)"Equality Forum Director Makes Bid for Council", Philadelphia Gay News, p, 6, April 1–7, 2011. and the highest civil rights awards from both the National Education Association (NEA)McDonald, Natalie Hope. "Two Out Candidates Run for City Council." Philadelphia Magazine, November 30, 2016. and the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
Lazin resides in Sarasota, Florida, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Early life and education The oldest of five children, Lazin was raised in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. His father was an osteopathic physician and his mother a homemaker.Dribben, Melissa. "Slings and Arrows." Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine, 28 April 2002, p. M14.
Lazin attended Lebanon High School. In his junior year, he won the Lebanon County Optimist Oratorical Contest."Malcolm Lazin of LHS is Optimist Oration Winner." Lebanon Daily News, March 26, 1959, p. 40 In his senior year, against the advice of his teacher, he selected the topic "The Plight of the American Negro" for the school's contest,Dribben, Melissa. "Slings and Arrows." Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine, 28 April 2002, p. M13. which began his lifetime of activism. He was also president of the Lebanon AZA, a Jewish youth organization, and became president of the AZA's Southeast Pennsylvania and Delaware region."AZA Elects Officers." Lebanon Daily News, June 5, 1958, p. 15.
In 1961, Lazin enrolled in Lebanon Valley College, his father's alma mater. He was president of his college class (freshman, junior, and senior years)"Re-Elect Malcolm Lazin President of 1965 Class." Lebanon Daily News, p. 27, May 13, 1964. and became president of the faculty student council in his senior year.Lebanon Daily News, 09 November 1973, p. 12. In 1963, he participated in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom—the civil rights demonstration at which Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. In 1964, Lazin stood among the crowd in the nation's capital to witness President John F. Kennedy's funeral cortege.http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/28
At Lebanon Valley College, Lazin majored in biology and minored in chemistry."Lebanon Valley to Graduate 41 Area Students." Lebanon Daily News Graduation Supplement, 17 May 1965, p. 42. He attended Boston University School of Law, where he graduated with a J.D. in 1968."Malcolm Lazin Receives Degree from Law School." Lebanon Daily News, 22 May 1968, p. 24
Lazin was married for 10 years to Terry Weinstein.Dribben, Melissa. "Slings and Arrows." The Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine, 28 April 2002, p. M14"Malcolm Lazin Takes Bride." Lebanon Daily News, 31 July 1973, p. 16.
Career Federal Prosecutor After fulfilling active training in the U.S. Army reserves,Dribben, Melissa. "Slings and Arrows." Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine, 28 April 2002, p. M16."Pvt. Lazin Returns to Fort Leonard Wood." Lebanon Daily News, 25 September 1968, p. 32. Lazin began his career in 1969 at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the Philadelphia regional office."Malcolm Lazin, Attorney, Sworn Into New Post." Lebanon Daily News, 7 April 1970, p. 12. He went on to become an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania from 1970 to 1974.Smith, Pat. "City GOP Taps Malcolm Who?" Philadelphia Daily News, 8 March 1977, p. 4."Malcolm Lazin, Attorney, Sworn Into New Post." Lebanon Daily News, 7 August 1970, p. 12.
In the early 1970s, The Philadelphia Inquirer ran front-page stories on alleged abuses in the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) low-income mortgage insurance programs. U.S. Attorney Louis Bechtle asked Lazin to examine the allegations. Lazin enlisted the help of neighborhood activists who accompanied FBI agents on interviews. After a preliminary investigation suggested a pattern of abuse, Lazin involved the IRS as well as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General. The probe resulted in the convictions of 18 real estate brokers; the largest FHA mortgage company in Pennsylvania; and the Director, the deputy director and the Chief of the Property Management Section of the Philadelphia FHA Insuring Office.Haskin, Don and Jim Smith. "18 Indicted in Probe Here." Philadelphia Daily News, 18 October 1972, p. 3. At the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, he taught his white-collar-crime investigative techniques to nine U.S. Attorney's offices.Curtis-Olsen, Zane. "The FHA Scandal in Philadelphia and the Lessons of Federal Intervention in the Inner-City Housing Market (1967-72)." Poverty & Race, 25.2 (2016):5-18."FHA Probe Pioneered Here Expands to 10 other Cities." Philadelphia Daily News, 21 September 1972, p. 42.
Lazin also led a successful investigation into fraudulent relocation payments made by the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority. He brought the first successful civil litigation in the nation under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and the first criminal environmental prosecutions in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
In 1972 in the Great Hall of Justice, Lazin received the U.S. Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award, the department's highest honor."Lazin Receives Natl. Recognition." Lebanon Daily News, 15 December 1972, p. 40.
Private Practice and Philadelphia Politics In 1973, Lazin left the U.S. Attorney's OfficeLazin, Malcolm. "When Politics Pollutes Equal Justice." Philadelphia Inquirer, 29 March 2007, p. A15. to enter private practice as a litigation associate."Lazin is Credited For Work." Lebanon Daily News, 14 March 1974, p. 14. Two years later, he accepted a partnership at Fell Spaulding Goff & Rubin, a Philadelphia law firm."M. Lazin Candidate in Philadelphia." Lebanon Daily News, 8 March 1977, p. 6.
In early 1977, the Philadelphia Republican City Committee approached Lazin to run for district attorney against incumbent Emmett Fitzpatrick. In May, Fitzpatrick faced an upset in the Democratic primary by Edward G. Rendell, Philadelphia's former Homicide Division Chief. In the general election, Lazin received the Philadelphia Inquirer's endorsement."Lazin Endorsed by Phila. Paper." Lebanon Daily News, 26 October 1977, p. 47."For District Attorney: Malcolm L. Lazin." The Philadelphia Inquirer, 23 October 1977, p. 6H. Democrats outnumbered Republicans by roughly 4 to 1; Lazin lost the race by roughly 3 to 2.Porter, Jill. "City Vote Knocks GOP Out of Political Ballpark." Philadelphia Daily News, 9 November 1977, p. 29.
State Politics and the PA Crime Commission In 1978, Pennsylvania governor Dick Thornburgh named Lazin a leader of his gubernatorial campaign. Lazin "played a key role in the campaign."Huber, Robert and Benjamin Wallace. The Philadelphia Reader. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006, p. 130. In prior gubernatorial elections, Republicans lost the city by approximately 300,000 votes. Thornburgh lost Philadelphia by only about 70,000 and garnered enough votes statewide to win the election.
Under the Thornburgh administration, Lazin served as the volunteer Pennsylvania co-chair for the International Year of the Child.Taylor, Kimberly. "On the Crusade for 'Lost' Children." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 5 July 1979, p. 13. With the first lady of state, Ginny Thornburgh, Lazin successfully lobbied to make Pennsylvania the first state to mandate child automobile safety seats.
In 1979, Governor Thornburgh appointed Lazin to the five-member Pennsylvania Crime Commission—the principal state agency investigating organized crime with a staff of 60."Lawyer is Tapped for Crime Panel." Pittsburgh Press, 18 May 1979, p. A10 On April 20, 1982, Lazin was named chairman of the commission."Lazin is New Chairmen of State Crime Commission," Philadelphia Inquirer, 21 April 1982, p. 18."Panel Chief." Philadelphia Daily News, 21 April 1982, p. 11. He helped champion the Mid-Atlantic Great Lakes Organized Crime Network (MAGLOCN)—the first computerized organized crime law-enforcement database, which resulted from the work of the commission, and which aggregated and shared information inter- and intrastate.Morrison, John F. "Retiring Crime Panel Chief Hails Cooperative Effort." Philadelphia Daily News, 28 April 1983, p. 7. During his tenure as chair, the New York and Philadelphia organized crime families were warring over Atlantic City, where gambling had been recently approved. Mob murders were rampant.Hobbs, Michael A. "Mob Stronger Despite Killings, Lazin Says." Philadelphia Inquirer, 24 February 1983, p. 81. Lazin became a media point person, commenting regularly on regional and national news programs. Lazin resigned from the commission April 27, 1983.Morrison, John F. "Retiring Crime Panel Chief Hails Cooperative Effort." Philadelphia Daily News, 28 April 1983, p. 7.
Lazin also ran for City Council in 2011, losing by 250 votes."The Gayest Feud Ever: Mark Segal vs. Malcolm Lazin." Philadelphia Magazine, 1 October 2011.
Commentaries Lazin's political commentaries following the 2016 U.S. presidential election have been published in the Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Washington Blade and following the U.S. Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021, by Smerconish. On February 15, 2023, acting as a former federal prosecutor, Lazin asked the office of Congressional Ethics to investigate U.S. Representative George Santos for immigration fraud. Lazin's request and accompanying letter were covered the same day by The New York Times.
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