Smart Justice
Singleton v. Cannizzaro
The ºìÐÓÊÓƵ Trone Center for Justice and Equality, ºìÐÓÊÓƵ of Louisiana, and Civil Rights Corps, filed suit against District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro, his office in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, and several Assistant District Attorneys for systematically breaking the laws of Louisiana and of the U.S. Constitution.
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Mississippi
Mar 2017
Smart Justice
Prisoners' Rights
Dockery v. Hall
The ºìÐÓÊÓƵ, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the Law Offices of Elizabeth Alexander, and the law firm of Covington & Burling LLP, filed a petition for class certification and expert reports for a federal lawsuit on behalf of prisoners at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility (EMCF). The lawsuit, which was filed in May 2013, describes the for-profit prison as hyper-violent, grotesquely filthy and dangerous. EMCF is operated "in a perpetual state of crisis" where prisoners are at "grave risk of death and loss of limbs." The facility, located in Meridian, Mississippi, is supposed to provide intensive treatment to the state's prisoners with serious psychiatric disabilities, many of whom are locked down in long-term solitary confinement.
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190 Smart Justice Cases
Maryland
Jul 2022
Smart Justice
Prisoners' Rights
Duvall v. Hogan
The settlement agreement was approved by the court on June 28, 2016.
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Maryland
Jul 2022
Smart Justice
Prisoners' Rights
Duvall v. Hogan
The settlement agreement was approved by the court on June 28, 2016.
Georgia
May 2022
Smart Justice
Mock et al v. Glynn County et al
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Georgia
May 2022
Smart Justice
Mock et al v. Glynn County et al
Tennessee
Sep 2021
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Nashville Community Bail Fund v. Gentry
In Nashville, local officials keep money posted as bail to pay fines and fees. This happens even when the person whose bond was posted shows up to their required court dates. Under a local court rule and policies from the criminal clerk, pretrial release is conditioned on future payment, which leverages pretrial freedom to make money for the government.
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Tennessee
Sep 2021
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Nashville Community Bail Fund v. Gentry
In Nashville, local officials keep money posted as bail to pay fines and fees. This happens even when the person whose bond was posted shows up to their required court dates. Under a local court rule and policies from the criminal clerk, pretrial release is conditioned on future payment, which leverages pretrial freedom to make money for the government.
Michigan
Feb 2020
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Hightower v. City of Grand Rapids
The ºìÐÓÊÓƵ of Michigan and the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ's Criminal Law Reform Project filed a federal lawsuit in May of 2013, on behalf of Plaintiffs Gilbert Weber and Tyrone Hightower, challenging the Grand Rapids Police Department's longstanding practice of arresting innocent people for criminal trespass on commercial property without warning and without the business owner's knowledge. Even where those arrested are patronizing the business in question, police justify these illegal arrests by pointing to form letters signed by business owners months or years prior to the arrest agreeing to prosecute "trespassers."
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Michigan
Feb 2020
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Hightower v. City of Grand Rapids
The ºìÐÓÊÓƵ of Michigan and the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ's Criminal Law Reform Project filed a federal lawsuit in May of 2013, on behalf of Plaintiffs Gilbert Weber and Tyrone Hightower, challenging the Grand Rapids Police Department's longstanding practice of arresting innocent people for criminal trespass on commercial property without warning and without the business owner's knowledge. Even where those arrested are patronizing the business in question, police justify these illegal arrests by pointing to form letters signed by business owners months or years prior to the arrest agreeing to prosecute "trespassers."
Oklahoma
Feb 2020
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
White, et al. v. Hesse, et al.
In Oklahoma cash bail is being used keep poor people behind bars. In Canadian County, Oklahoma if you have the money, you get out of jail. If you are poor, you stay in. That’s why we sued.
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Oklahoma
Feb 2020
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
White, et al. v. Hesse, et al.
In Oklahoma cash bail is being used keep poor people behind bars. In Canadian County, Oklahoma if you have the money, you get out of jail. If you are poor, you stay in. That’s why we sued.