North Carolina
North Carolina Racial Justice Act Litigation (North Carolina v. Hasson Bacote)
Hasson Bacote is challenging his death sentence under the North Carolina Racial Justice Act (RJA), a first-of-its-kind law that allowed those sentenced to death to challenge their death sentences where race was a significant factor in decisions to seek or impose the death penalty at the time of their trials. Earlier this year, Mr. Bacote put forth evidence during a two-week hearing which showed that race played an impermissible role in jury selection not only in his own case, but across North Carolina statewide. The evidence presented at this landmark hearing will have significant implications for the over 130 people sentenced to death who filed similar claims under the Racial Justice Act.
Status: Ongoing
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21 North Carolina Cases
North Carolina
Jun 2023
Reproductive Freedom
Planned Parenthood South Atlantic v. Stein
North Carolina health care providers filed a lawsuit on June 16, 2023 challenging several provisions in Senate Bill 20, a sweeping law that severely restricts access to abortion from the earliest stages of pregnancy and bans care after 12 weeks in nearly all circumstances. The case was filed one month after the North Carolina General Assembly rushed S.B. 20 through both chambers and overrode a veto from Gov. Roy Cooper to put it into law. The law — which was drafted and passed without any opportunity to amend — is scheduled to take effect on July 1.
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North Carolina
Jun 2023
Reproductive Freedom
Planned Parenthood South Atlantic v. Stein
North Carolina health care providers filed a lawsuit on June 16, 2023 challenging several provisions in Senate Bill 20, a sweeping law that severely restricts access to abortion from the earliest stages of pregnancy and bans care after 12 weeks in nearly all circumstances. The case was filed one month after the North Carolina General Assembly rushed S.B. 20 through both chambers and overrode a veto from Gov. Roy Cooper to put it into law. The law — which was drafted and passed without any opportunity to amend — is scheduled to take effect on July 1.
U.S. Supreme Court
Feb 2023
Racial Justice
Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard; Students for Fair Admissions v. UNC
This lawsuit contends that the consideration of race as an affirmative action measure in admissions at Harvard and at UNC constitutes racial discrimination in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Feb 2023
Racial Justice
Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard; Students for Fair Admissions v. UNC
This lawsuit contends that the consideration of race as an affirmative action measure in admissions at Harvard and at UNC constitutes racial discrimination in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.
U.S. Supreme Court
Nov 2022
Voting Rights
Moore v. Harper (Amicus)
Can state legislatures draw gerrymandered districts and make other rules for federal elections without any check from state courts applying the rules of their own state constitutions?
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U.S. Supreme Court
Nov 2022
Voting Rights
Moore v. Harper (Amicus)
Can state legislatures draw gerrymandered districts and make other rules for federal elections without any check from state courts applying the rules of their own state constitutions?
North Carolina
Mar 2022
Criminal Law Reform
Racial Justice
Johnson v. Jessup
The ºìÐÓÊÓƵ (ºìÐÓÊÓƵ), ºìÐÓÊÓƵ of North Carolina, Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and Southern Coalition for Social Justice are suing the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for indefinitely revoking driver’s licenses of people who cannot afford to pay traffic tickets. North Carolina’s wealth-based license revocation system impacts hundreds of thousands of people each year, preventing them from driving legally to support themselves and their families. This system funnels people unable to pay traffic tickets, particularly people of color, into cycles of debt, traffic violations, and poverty in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s promises of due process and equal protection under the law.
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North Carolina
Mar 2022
Criminal Law Reform
Racial Justice
Johnson v. Jessup
The ºìÐÓÊÓƵ (ºìÐÓÊÓƵ), ºìÐÓÊÓƵ of North Carolina, Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and Southern Coalition for Social Justice are suing the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for indefinitely revoking driver’s licenses of people who cannot afford to pay traffic tickets. North Carolina’s wealth-based license revocation system impacts hundreds of thousands of people each year, preventing them from driving legally to support themselves and their families. This system funnels people unable to pay traffic tickets, particularly people of color, into cycles of debt, traffic violations, and poverty in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s promises of due process and equal protection under the law.