Civil rights case docket
Summaries of our current and historical civil rights cases.
A rich history of litigating important civil rights cases.
Our cases have smashed remnants of Jim Crow segregation; fought against voter suppression; destroyed some of the nation’s most notorious white supremacist groups; and upheld the rights of minorities, children, women, people with disabilities, and others who faced discrimination and exploitation. Many of our cases have changed institutional practices, stopped government or corporate abuses, and set precedents that helped thousands.
Currently, our litigation is focused on several major areas: voting rights, children’s rights, economic justice, immigrant justice, LGBTQ rights, and mass incarceration.
We have also filed amicus “friend-of-the-court” briefs to support litigation from other organizations that are doing similar work.
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- Dismantling White Supremacy
Pigott v. Gintz
The Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and RFK Human Rights successfully reached a settlement agreement on behalf of a father and his two children who were held at gun point by a sheriff’s deputy in Louisiana. On April 17, 2020, Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Gintz followed Wesley Pigott and…
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- Strengthening Democracy & Voting Rights
Florida Decides Healthcare Inc., et al. v. Byrd, et al.
On Sunday, May 4, 2025 — two days after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Florida House Bill 1205 (HB 1205) into law — a law geared toward eliminating the ability of all but the most wealthy and powerful from accessing Florida’s ballot initiative process — the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a federal lawsuit seeking…
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- Strengthening Democracy & Voting Rights
Louisiana v. Callais
On Sept. 3, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed an amicus brief in a case involving white plaintiffs who claim that Louisiana’s current redistricting plan — which was created to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and has two majority-Black congressional districts — is a racial gerrymander that discriminates against them. The…
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
Anaria Cabrera, et al. v. U.S. Department of Labor
After the Trump administration announced the suspension of the Job Corps program and that all 99 of its centers would close, the Southern Poverty Law Center and Public Citizen Litigation Group filed a federal lawsuit opposing the action as an illegal shutdown of the program. The lawsuit describes how on May 29, 2025, the U.S.…
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- Dismantling White Supremacy
Deago Buck v. Goyim Defense League, et al.
After an antisemitic group brought a hate campaign to Nashville, Tennessee, in 2024, and targeted people believed to be Jewish or people of color, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a young, biracial man assaulted during the event. The lawsuit names the Goyim Defense League (GDL), its leadership and…
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- Strengthening Democracy & Voting Rights
League of Women Voters of Louisiana, et al. v. Landry, et al.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a coalition of voting rights groups against the state of Louisiana following its passage of a proof of citizenship law that violates the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). The NVRA does not allow states to require the collection of additional documentation to register…
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
- Ending Unjust Imprisonment
Baez v. Dixon
The Southern Poverty Law Center and Florida Justice Institute filed federal and state lawsuits on behalf of an incarcerated man who suffered abuse at the hands of the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC). Following a settlement awarded to the man for his injuries, FDC enforced a six-figure lien against him. The suits argue that FDC’s…
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
George v. Sanders
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a class action complaint with the National Housing Law Project (NHLP) and civil rights attorney William Patrick Quigley on behalf of a tenant in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, against a justice of the peace in East Baton Rouge Parish. The complaint states that Louisiana law creates an unconstitutional financial incentive for…
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- Ending Unjust Imprisonment
P.A., et al. v. Voitier
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and Loyola Law Clinic reached a settlement agreement with Louisiana’s St. Bernard Parish Public Schools following a 2023 lawsuit the groups filed accusing the school district with routinely violating the rights of students with disabilities, placing them in a punitive alternative school setting without the appropriate due process, accommodations and…
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
Scott, et al., v. Louisiana State Police, et al.
Amid evictions of unhoused people from encampments in public spaces in New Orleans, the Southern Poverty Law Center joined a case to protect unhoused people from this effort by state authorities. Ahead of major events held at the Caesars Superdome in October and November 2024, the Louisiana State Police and the state’s Department of Wildlife…