Is The 'Prevailing Party' Over For Civil Rights Attys?

By Jack Karp

The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that preliminary injunctions don't entitle civil rights plaintiffs to recoup attorney fees was partly an attempt to reduce lengthy fee litigation, but it may have also reduced litigants' ability to vindicate their rights in court.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

With $1.2M Deal, Pattern Of NY Prison Abuse Cases Emerges

By Marco Poggio

A New York man who says prison guards tortured him during a medical emergency recently secured a $1.2 million settlement — one of the largest known payouts for abuse in state custody — as part of litigation that exposed a correction officer's alleged recurrent violent behavior.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trans Prisoners Fight For Care Over New White House Hurdles

By Gianna Ferrarin

After staff at a New Jersey federal prison told Alishea Sophia Kingdom that, due to an executive order by President Donald Trump, she would no longer be receiving hormone therapy to treat gender dysphoria, Kingdom lodged the latest in a series of suits against the Federal Bureau of Prisons that contend following the executive order violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.

17 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Mass. Officials, Feds On A 'Low Boil' After Midtrial ICE Arrest

By Brian Dowling and Chris Villani

The midtrial immigration arrest of a Dominican national during his Massachusetts court case has raised tensions between federal and state prosecutors and threatens to injure cooperation between the offices, experts say.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DC Judge Won't Block ICE From Raiding Churches Amid Suit

By Hailey Konnath

A D.C. federal judge on Friday declined to issue an injunction barring the Trump administration from carrying out immigration raids or arrests in places of worship while litigation over the raids is ongoing, ruling that religious groups haven't shown a credible threat of enforcement, "at least at this juncture."

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Justices Sympathetic To Inmate Who 'Messed Up' Appeal

By Chris Villani

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday seemed dubious of a Fourth Circuit ruling refusing an inmate's appeal on procedural timing grounds, as the justices weighed a case that will likely disproportionately affect pro se litigants.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Up Next At High Court: Preventive Healthcare, LGBTQ Books

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in five cases this week, including disputes over the constitutionality of a task force that sets preventive healthcare coverage requirements, a school district's introduction of LGBTQ-themed storybooks and whether parties can establish standing based on harms affecting third parties. 

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Sheriff's Office, Town Want Forced Catheter Suit Tossed

By Mike Curley

Current and former officials in Hollis and Harmon County, Oklahoma, are urging a federal court to throw out a suit from a man who alleges he was forcibly catheterized without his consent following a traffic incident in violation of his civil rights.

6 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Conn. Town Wants Murder Exoneree's $5.7M Jury Win Tossed

By Aaron Keller

A Connecticut town has asked a federal judge to either toss or zero out an exonerated murder defendant's $5.7 million jury trial win, saying one of its police officers did not, as a matter of law, assist a state police officer in fabricating a jailhouse informant's testimony.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Ga. Sheriff Sued Over 'Deplorable' Jail Conditions

By Kelcey Caulder

Former Clayton County, Georgia, Sheriff Victor Hill, who was convicted in 2022 of violating his detainees' civil rights by leaving them strapped to a chair for hours at a time, was sued by a detainee who says she faced "deplorable" conditions in the Clayton County Jail.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NY Settles Class Action Over Delays In Special Ed Hearings

By Marco Poggio

New York City and state officials agreed to overhaul how special education complaints are handled, settling a 2020 class action brought by students with disabilities who waited months for crucial services.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Black Man Concedes Commutation Mooted Death Row Ruling

By Hayley Fowler

The former North Carolina governor's decision to commute a Black man's death sentence last year rendered moot the trial court's later landmark decision finding racial bias tainted his trial, his defense counsel conceded in a state supreme court brief.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

6th Circ. Calls Compassionate Release Change A 'Power Grab'

By Carolyn Muyskens

The U.S. Sentencing Commission overstepped by telling prisoners serving unusually long sentences that they can seek early release due to changes in sentencing law, the Sixth Circuit ruled Tuesday, deeming the move "a heavy-handed and unseemly power grab by the commission." 

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Coalition Offers Free Legal Aid To Fired Federal Workers

By Andrea Keckley

A coalition of organizations, including unions like the AFL-CIO and nonprofits like the nonpartisan legal volunteering network We the Action, has teamed up to connect the thousands of federal employees fired under the Trump Administration with free legal support, calling on lawyers across the U.S. to join their efforts.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ Torches Biden-Era Enviro Justice Deal With Alabama

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday terminated a groundbreaking civil rights law-based environmental justice settlement intended to improve water infrastructure in a low-income Black community in Alabama, calling it another step in the Trump administration's effort to eliminate anti-discrimination initiatives.

Settlement attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Holders Of Section 8 Vouchers Sue Housing Agency Over Rent

By Isaac Monterose

A proposed class of people who receive Section 8 vouchers from the New York City Housing Authority are accusing the agency of unlawfully allowing certain landlords to raise their rents so high that their tenants risk being evicted.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Calif. Agency Says Appraisal Co. Discriminated Against Family

By Craig Clough

The California Civil Rights Department announced it has reached settlements with a Nevada-based appraisal management company and an individual appraiser that allegedly lowballed a Black and Latino family in the Bay Area because of their race.

Settlement attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Atlanta's John Marshall Law School Launches Justice Institute

By Rose Krebs

Atlanta's John Marshall Law School recently announced it has launched a Criminal and Civil Justice Institute to help students pursue legal careers aimed at making a difference in their clients' lives and communities.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Perspectives

The Benefits Of Aligning States On Legal Paraprofessionals

Texas' proposal to become the latest state to license paraprofessional providers of limited legal services could help firms expand their reach and improve access to justice, but consumers, attorneys and allied legal professionals would benefit even more if similar programs across the country become more uniform, says Michael Houlberg at the University of Denver.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »