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SPLC: Mississippi Supreme Court Ruling Affirms Hinds County Residents’ Right to Elect Judges

September 21, 2023

JACKSON, Miss. – Today, the Mississippi Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a provision of HB 1020 that, in part, strips Hinds County residents of their constitutionally protected right to elect their judges. In June 2023,...

SPLC Urges National Recognition of Historic Community of Royal, Florida

September 21, 2023

ROYAL, Fla. — In a recent opinion , the National Park Service found that the central Florida community of Royal appears to meet the criteria for the National Register of Historic Places. Settled in the 1860s by Freedmen who...

Georgia Educator Appeals Termination Decision by the Cobb County School Board

September 14, 2023

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Today, Georgia educator Katherine Rinderle appealed the Cobb County School Board’s decision last month to terminate her for reading My Shadow is Purple to her fifth grade gifted students at Due West Elementary...

P.A.S.C.O. Coalition Urges DOJ to End Support of Harmful Predictive Policing Program

September 12, 2023

PASCO COUNTY, Fla. – In a letter today, the P.A.S.C.O. (People Against the Surveillance of Children and Overpolicing) Coalition asked the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to end its support of Pasco County’s discriminatory...

Federal Judge Staying Preliminary Injunction Against Anti-Transgender Health Care Ban

September 06, 2023

ATLANTA — A federal judge has stayed a preliminary injunction against Georgia Senate Bill 140 (“SB 140,” or the “Health Care Ban”) pending adjudication of the state’s request for her to reconsider her ruling. “We are disappointed...

Civil Rights Groups Challenge Discriminatory Law Unfairly Impacting Black Children of Unwed U.S. Citizen Fathers

September 05, 2023

WASHINGTON — Civil rights attorneys for Damion Glenroy Davis will present oral arguments before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals on Sept. 7 to end a law that excluded naturalized citizen fathers from passing U.S. citizenship to...

Activate Mississippi Initiative Uses Art and Activism to Expand Voter Engagement

August 30, 2023

JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi has one of the lowest voter turnout rates in the United States. In 2022, only 32% of the state’s voting population exercised their right to vote. To expand voter education and engagement throughout...

Ivory Dixon, Jr., Released After Over 33 Years of Incarceration

August 29, 2023

LOUISIANA— Decades after being sentenced to life without parole in Louisiana, Ivory Dixon, Jr., has been released from custody. “Ivory is a humble, honest, and hardworking father and grandfather,” said Emily Lubin, staff attorney...

Human Rights Organizations Condemn 11th Circuit Decision to Reinstate Alabama Transgender Health Care Ban

August 21, 2023

Today, a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision reversing a federal district court ruling blocking enforcement of Alabama’s law banning medical care for transgender adolescents. The district...

Federal Judge Issues Injunction that Restores Health Care for Georgia Transgender Children

August 21, 2023

ATLANTA —A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction late Sunday halting a provision in Georgia Senate Bill 140 (“SB 140,” the “Health Care Ban,” or the “Ban”) from taking effect while a lawsuit filed by four Georgia families...

Federal Court Lifts Georgia’s Line Relief Ban, Birthdate Requirement on Absentee Ballot Envelopes for 2024 Elections

August 18, 2023

ATLANTA — A federal court in the Northern District of Georgia issued rulings today in response to emergency motions filed by civil rights groups to lift restrictions put in place by Georgia’s anti-voter law, Senate Bill 202 for...

Statement on Cobb County School Board Decision to Uphold Termination of Katherine Rinderle

August 17, 2023

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Today, the Cobb County School Board voted to uphold the recommendation of Superintendent Chris Ragsdale to terminate Katherine Rinderle, a longtime educator in the Cobb County School District and member of the...

SPLC Mourns Passing of Former Legal Director John Carroll

August 16, 2023

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) reflects on the legacy of former legal director John Carroll, who passed away on Monday, August 14. “John Carroll was a passionate civil rights advocate, jurist, law...

Statement on Cobb County School District’s Tribunal Decision to Reject Recommendation by Superintendent to Terminate Educator

August 15, 2023

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A three-member tribunal, appointed by the Cobb County Board of Education, issued a decision yesterday rejecting the superintendent’s recommendation to terminate longtime Cobb County educator Katherine Rinderle...

Groups File Motion in Lawsuit to Block Florida’s Anti-Immigrant Law SB 1718

August 08, 2023

SPANISH VERSION BELOW – VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL A CONTINUACIÓN MIAMI – Today, legal organizations, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Florida, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and...

Federal Court Issues Groundbreaking Decision Overturning Mississippi’s Lifetime Voting Ban

August 04, 2023

JACKSON, Miss. – Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that Mississippi’s lifetime voting ban for people with disqualifying felony convictions who have completed their sentences is cruel and unusual...

Human and civil rights groups to host special education workshop and clinic for parents and advocates

July 31, 2023

OXFORD, Miss. — The ACLU of Mississippi, in partnership with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Disability Rights Mississippi, and Oxford-based law group Frye Reeves, PLLC, will hold a FREE Special Education Workshop and...

Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and Southern Poverty Law Center Are Accepting Applications for Vote Your Voice Field Strengthening Grants

July 31, 2023

ATLANTA – The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta (Foundation) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) announce the opening of a new series of grants through the Vote Your Voice initiative. These grants, called Field...

Federal Court Blocks Implementation of Mississippi’s New Voting Law

July 26, 2023

JACKSON, Miss. — A federal court has granted a request by Disability Rights Mississippi, the League of Women Voters of Mississippi, and three Mississippi voters to block S.B. 2358 — a newly implemented state law that...

New Report Reveals How America’s Gun Violence Crisis Affects Young People at Home, at School and in Communities

July 25, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Guns are the leading cause of death for children, teens, and young adults in the United States, but very little research has been conducted to understand how young people feel about and use firearms – until now...

Case Against Racially Gerrymandered Cobb County School Board Map to Move Forward

July 24, 2023

ATLANTA, Ga. — A federal court judge on Friday agreed with voting rights groups representing impacted individuals and organizations in Cobb County that a lawsuit challenging the racially discriminatory Cobb County School Board...

Arthur Castille, Paroled after 32 Years of Confinement in Louisiana Prison

July 21, 2023

LOUISIANA— More than 32 years after being sentenced to life without parole in Louisiana, Arthur Castille has been released from custody. “Arthur is truly deserving of the opportunity to come home. I am consistently impressed by...

Alabama District Attorney Dismisses Criminal Charges for Nonpayment of Trash Bills

July 20, 2023

VALLEY, Ala. — Following an investigation by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Alabama’s Fifth Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office has dismissed all cases involving nonpayment of trash fees in Valley, Alabama. The...

State Legislature Fails Louisiana Children, Parents and Doctors Yet Again

July 20, 2023

NEW ORLEANS — This week, the Louisiana legislature reconvened specifically to override Gov. John Bel Edwards’ veto of legislation banning medically necessary gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The bill goes into effect...

Nationwide Actions to Decry Deaths in Immigration Cages, Demand Justice

July 19, 2023

NEW ORLEANS – The Southeast Dignity Not Detention Coalition announced a nationwide Day of Action (12 hours) in response to the continued premature and avoidable deaths of community members held in immigration cages. Events will...

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