Race and Economic Justice
Fund for Empowerment v. Phoenix, City of
Fund for Empowerment is a challenge to the City of Phoenix’s practice of conducting sweeps of encampments without notice, issuing citations to unsheltered people for camping and sleeping on public property when they have no place else to go, and confiscating and destroying their property without notice or process.
Status: Ongoing
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13 Race and Economic Justice Cases
Montana Supreme Court
May 2024
Race and Economic Justice
+2 Issues
Held v. Montana
This case pending before the Montana Supreme Court asks, among other things, whether the claims of sixteen youth plaintiffs challenging Montana energy policy present a political question under the Montana Constitution. The ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative, alongside the ACLU of Montana, filed an amicus brief arguing that the claims do not present a political question and, moreover, that state courts should not wholesale adopt the federal political questions doctrine.
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Montana Supreme Court
May 2024
Race and Economic Justice
+2 Issues
Held v. Montana
This case pending before the Montana Supreme Court asks, among other things, whether the claims of sixteen youth plaintiffs challenging Montana energy policy present a political question under the Montana Constitution. The ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative, alongside the ACLU of Montana, filed an amicus brief arguing that the claims do not present a political question and, moreover, that state courts should not wholesale adopt the federal political questions doctrine.
U.S. Supreme Court
Feb 2023
Race and Economic 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
Race and Economic 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
Feb 2023
Race and Economic Justice
Biden v. Nebraska; Department of Education v. Brown
This case concerns whether the Department of Education acted within its administrative authority in issuing its student-borrower debt relief plan.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Feb 2023
Race and Economic Justice
Biden v. Nebraska; Department of Education v. Brown
This case concerns whether the Department of Education acted within its administrative authority in issuing its student-borrower debt relief plan.
U.S. Supreme Court
Oct 2021
Race and Economic Justice
Racial Justice
Center for Investigative Reporting v. SEPTA
In this case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that the Philadelphia metropolitan transit system’s ban on “political” and public issue advertisements violated the First Amendment because the policy could not be applied in a logical, consistent manner.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Oct 2021
Race and Economic Justice
Racial Justice
Center for Investigative Reporting v. SEPTA
In this case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that the Philadelphia metropolitan transit system’s ban on “political” and public issue advertisements violated the First Amendment because the policy could not be applied in a logical, consistent manner.
South Carolina
Sep 2021
Race and Economic Justice
White v. Shwedo
In the latest front in the nationwide fight against the criminalization of poverty, on October 31, 2019, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of South Carolina, Terrell Marshall Law Group PLLC, Southern Poverty Law Center, and South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center filed a federal lawsuit challenging South Carolina’s policy of automatically suspending the driver’s licenses of people with unpaid traffic tickets. The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles does not ensure that people who cannot pay will not lose their licenses in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s promise of due process and equal protection under the law. South Carolina’s wealth-based license suspensions impact more than 190,000 people, funneling those who are unable to pay, particularly poor people of color, deep into cycles of poverty, job loss, traffic violations, and entanglement with the legal system.
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South Carolina
Sep 2021
Race and Economic Justice
White v. Shwedo
In the latest front in the nationwide fight against the criminalization of poverty, on October 31, 2019, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of South Carolina, Terrell Marshall Law Group PLLC, Southern Poverty Law Center, and South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center filed a federal lawsuit challenging South Carolina’s policy of automatically suspending the driver’s licenses of people with unpaid traffic tickets. The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles does not ensure that people who cannot pay will not lose their licenses in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s promise of due process and equal protection under the law. South Carolina’s wealth-based license suspensions impact more than 190,000 people, funneling those who are unable to pay, particularly poor people of color, deep into cycles of poverty, job loss, traffic violations, and entanglement with the legal system.