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
Court Case
Jun 2017
Smart Justice
Burks, et al. v. Scott County, Mississippi
After learning that the Scott County Detention Center in Mississippi has held people for as long as a year without indicting them or appointing counsel, the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ, the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ of Mississippi, and the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center filed a class action suit against the county’s sheriff, district attorney, and judges. The county’s practices violate the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments’ rights to counsel, to a speedy trial, and to a fair bail hearing.
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Court Case
Jun 2017
Smart Justice
Burks, et al. v. Scott County, Mississippi
After learning that the Scott County Detention Center in Mississippi has held people for as long as a year without indicting them or appointing counsel, the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ, the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ of Mississippi, and the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center filed a class action suit against the county’s sheriff, district attorney, and judges. The county’s practices violate the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments’ rights to counsel, to a speedy trial, and to a fair bail hearing.
North Carolina
May 2017
Smart Justice
+2 Issues
North Carolina v. Robinson
A North Carolina judge found intentional and systemic discrimination by state prosecutors against African-American potential jurors in capital cases and commuted the sentence of death-row prisoner Marcus Robinson to life in prison without the possibility of parole in April 2012. The decision is currently under appeal.
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North Carolina
May 2017
Smart Justice
+2 Issues
North Carolina v. Robinson
A North Carolina judge found intentional and systemic discrimination by state prosecutors against African-American potential jurors in capital cases and commuted the sentence of death-row prisoner Marcus Robinson to life in prison without the possibility of parole in April 2012. The decision is currently under appeal.
Massachusetts
Jan 2017
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Bridgeman et. al v. District Attorney for Suffolk County et. al
Update: On January 18, 2017, the Massachusetts Supreme Court directed district attorneys to dismiss thousands of drug offense cases that were tainted by the misconduct of chemist Annie Dookhan. Prosecutors must produce a list of all drug convictions they plan to dismiss, and also produce a list of cases that they wish to re-prosecute, both within 90 days. They will be permitted to re-prosecute cases only if they certify they can do so on the basis of untainted evidence. The people hurt by Annie Dookhan’s actions deserve justice from the prosecutors who have the power to right thousands of grave wrongs by dismissing these cases.
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Massachusetts
Jan 2017
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Bridgeman et. al v. District Attorney for Suffolk County et. al
Update: On January 18, 2017, the Massachusetts Supreme Court directed district attorneys to dismiss thousands of drug offense cases that were tainted by the misconduct of chemist Annie Dookhan. Prosecutors must produce a list of all drug convictions they plan to dismiss, and also produce a list of cases that they wish to re-prosecute, both within 90 days. They will be permitted to re-prosecute cases only if they certify they can do so on the basis of untainted evidence. The people hurt by Annie Dookhan’s actions deserve justice from the prosecutors who have the power to right thousands of grave wrongs by dismissing these cases.
Court Case
May 2016
Smart Justice
Prisoners' Rights
Kelly v. Wengler
This case, filed by the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ and ºìÐÓÊÓƵ of Idaho, seeks to put a stop to the culture of rampant violence that has led to carnage and suffering among prisoners at officials at the Idaho Correctional Center (ICC), the state-owned facility operated by the for-profit company Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).
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Court Case
May 2016
Smart Justice
Prisoners' Rights
Kelly v. Wengler
This case, filed by the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ and ºìÐÓÊÓƵ of Idaho, seeks to put a stop to the culture of rampant violence that has led to carnage and suffering among prisoners at officials at the Idaho Correctional Center (ICC), the state-owned facility operated by the for-profit company Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).