The Justice Report
The Justice Report is a journal dedicated to the advancement of civil rights by providing context and understanding for issues most prominently affecting our justice system today. This curated collection is an online database focused on poverty, historical civil rights benchmarks, staff and contributor insights, and the inner workings of our government leaders.
On March 24, 2022, Equal Justice Under Law celebrates its eight-year anniversary of challenging wealth-based discrimination in the criminal justice system! Since our organization’s founding in 2014, we’ve filed 41 lawsuits in 17 states. We’ve brought about positive change to over three million people affected by our case victories or repeals in discriminatory laws as a result of our lawsuits.
Read MoreA historic victory ending cash bail in San Francisco was finalized this month when the Ninth Circuit federal Court of Appeals confirmed our victory in the trial court and ordered fees paid by the state. The state had appealed the ruling below, and after more than two years since we helped convince a federal district court to declare San Francisco’s money bail schedule unconstitutional, the appeals court affirmed our victory in a 29-page opinion this month.
Read MoreArkansas is the only state that criminalizes failure to pay rent. A lawsuit filed today aims to end this draconian law (known as the failure to vacate statute, or Ark. Code §18-16-101), claiming the scales of justice are tipped too far in favor of landlords looking for a cheap workaround from tenant protections, all at the expense of tenants struggling to afford rent.
Read MoreA critical lawsuit was filed on behalf of hundreds of individuals being extorted money through pre-trial fees before ever being found guilty of a crime. In Ravalli County, pre-trial arrestees — who have not been found guilty of any crime — are required to pay pre-trial fees for things like supervision and electronic monitoring, often adding up to hundreds of dollars per month, without consideration of their ability to pay. If they fall behind on payments, they are threatened with jail.
Read MoreIn St. Louis, Missouri, pre-trial inmates at the ironically named “Justice Center” jail have been protesting inhumane conditions. Since the onset of the pandemic, inmates have been locked in their cells for 23 hours/day, Covid-19 protections have been woefully inadequate, and court dates have come to a grinding halt, leaving hundreds of inmates languishing for more than a year without having been found guilty of anything.
Read MoreEqual Justice Under Law is celebrating our seventh anniversary on March 24, 2021! Our longevity and success in the fight against wealth-based inequality in the justice system would not be possible without our generous supporters.
Read MoreProgress is underway for voting rights restoration in Tennessee. We filed a lawsuit in December 2020 challenging Tennessee’s process for restoring the right to vote for citizens previously convicted of a felony. Under Tennessee law, people with prior felony convictions are eligible to restore their right to vote if they meet certain criteria.
Read MoreThe effort to end cash bail nationwide recently got a huge boost: On January 13, 2021, the Illinois general assembly passed the Pretrial Fairness Act, which will phase out the use of wealth-based pre-trial detention over the next two years. The bill now heads to Governor Pritzker, who is expected to sign the bill into law.
Read MoreRemember those $1,200 checks some people received earlier this year under the CARES Act in response to the coronavirus pandemic? Incarcerated individuals were excluded from receiving them, for no other reason than their incarcerated status.
Read MoreWhen Justice Ginsburg died on September 18, the nation lost the Supreme Court’s only civil rights lawyer. For those passionate about equality, her passing is a huge loss to a federal judiciary that is becoming more and more detached from the experiences of actual people.
Read More“We are moving all classroom instruction for all of our schools to virtual learning environments. Beginning Monday, March 16th, we are suspending all in-person, face-to-face, on-campus classroom instruction. This will continue until further notice.”
Read MoreAre parents who are unable to pay their child support orders deserving of the punishment and vilification that often accompanies their nonpayment? The answer is probably much more complicated than many believe.
Read MoreThe massive tragedy of Rayshard Brooks’ death occurred in a time marked by police killings. The injustices unfolding in our country have been on my mind as I’ve been back home in Atlanta, interning with Equal Justice Under Law, and as a black person I’ve wondered what the act of violence that claimed his life means in the larger context of our long national problem with policing.
Read MoreLike you, we at Equal Justice Under Law are angered over the unjustified killing of George Floyd and countless others. Like many of you, we too have taken to the streets in protest and to organize comfort services for other protesters…
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