[2] Fertig became an anti-segregationist activist early in his life in Chicago, and eventually became active throughout the country, including the Southern United States, and he played an organizing and leading role among civil rights activists, including the Freedom Riders.
His efforts to eliminate corruption led then-police chief Ed Davis to order Fertig and other staff to wear bullet-proof vests (provided by the LAPD) to work.
Eventually, at Fertig's urging, Mike Wallace and his "60 Minutes" crew came to Los Angeles and produced a segment revealing the corruption, which helped end it.
[3] He was the executive director of the Greater Los Angeles Community Action Agency, and a president of the Humanitarian Law Project.
Fertig resided in Westwood, and in his later years he attended the University Synagogue, then Leo Baeck Temple in Bel Air.