Smart Justice
Singleton v. Cannizzaro
The 红杏视频 Trone Center for Justice and Equality, 红杏视频 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.
View Case
Learn 红杏视频 Smart Justice
Featured
Mississippi
Mar 2017

Smart Justice
Prisoners' Rights
Dockery v. Hall
The 红杏视频, 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.
All Cases
190 Smart Justice Cases

Kansas
Jun 2018
Smart Justice
Kansas Crossroads Foundation v. Markle
Explore case
Kansas
Jun 2018

Smart Justice
Kansas Crossroads Foundation v. Markle

U.S. Supreme Court
Apr 2018
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Hester v. Gentry
In Alabama鈥檚 criminal justice system, wealth can be synonymous with freedom, and lack of wealth can mean incarceration. That鈥檚 wealth-based justice, and it鈥檚 unconstitutional. Hundreds of defendants, including Bradley Hester, Ray Charles Schultz, and Randall Parris, are routinely jailed pretrial due to their inability to afford a predetermined bail bond required for release. This system disregards the ramifications of unconstitutional pretrial detention for individuals and families, which include presumption of innocence, economic and emotional hardship, and potential loss of one鈥檚 job. We along with partners intervened in a federal class action lawsuit which seeks to end this unlawful detention scheme, and calls on Cullman County to instead implement fair, efficient, alternative conditions of release that are not based on how much money someone has.
Explore case
U.S. Supreme Court
Apr 2018

Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Hester v. Gentry
In Alabama鈥檚 criminal justice system, wealth can be synonymous with freedom, and lack of wealth can mean incarceration. That鈥檚 wealth-based justice, and it鈥檚 unconstitutional. Hundreds of defendants, including Bradley Hester, Ray Charles Schultz, and Randall Parris, are routinely jailed pretrial due to their inability to afford a predetermined bail bond required for release. This system disregards the ramifications of unconstitutional pretrial detention for individuals and families, which include presumption of innocence, economic and emotional hardship, and potential loss of one鈥檚 job. We along with partners intervened in a federal class action lawsuit which seeks to end this unlawful detention scheme, and calls on Cullman County to instead implement fair, efficient, alternative conditions of release that are not based on how much money someone has.

U.S. Supreme Court
Jan 2018
Smart Justice
Bobby Bostic v. Rhoda Pash
Does sentencing a juvenile offender who did not commit homicide to a term-of-years sentence under which he will not be eligible for parole until he is 112 years old violate the Eighth Amendment?
Explore case
U.S. Supreme Court
Jan 2018

Smart Justice
Bobby Bostic v. Rhoda Pash
Does sentencing a juvenile offender who did not commit homicide to a term-of-years sentence under which he will not be eligible for parole until he is 112 years old violate the Eighth Amendment?

Michigan
Sep 2017
Smart Justice
Hill v. Snyder
VICTORY: Federal Judge strikes down Michigan parole statute condemning youthful offenders to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Explore case
Michigan
Sep 2017

Smart Justice
Hill v. Snyder
VICTORY: Federal Judge strikes down Michigan parole statute condemning youthful offenders to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Louisiana
Aug 2017
Smart Justice
Ayo v. Dunn et al
For years, people arrested in East Baton Rouge Parish who appeared before Judge Trudy White have been jailed unless they pay a $525 fee to a private corporation called Rehabilitation Home Incarceration (鈥淩HI鈥). This fee is paid by each person for their own pre-trial release. This fee is paid in addition to any bail amount required by the judge as a condition for that person鈥檚 release. This has been going on for at least three years in the parish.
Explore case
Louisiana
Aug 2017

Smart Justice
Ayo v. Dunn et al
For years, people arrested in East Baton Rouge Parish who appeared before Judge Trudy White have been jailed unless they pay a $525 fee to a private corporation called Rehabilitation Home Incarceration (鈥淩HI鈥). This fee is paid by each person for their own pre-trial release. This fee is paid in addition to any bail amount required by the judge as a condition for that person鈥檚 release. This has been going on for at least three years in the parish.