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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- Ending Unjust Imprisonment
Yellowhammer Fund v. Attorney General of Alabama Steve Marshall
After Alabama’s attorney general threatened to criminalize people helping pregnant Alabamians access legal abortion care in other states, The Lawyering Project, joined by the Southern Poverty Law Center, filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the attorney general from making good on his threat. The attorney general threatened organizations such as the plaintiff, the Yellowhammer…
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- Ending Unjust Imprisonment
The Farmworker Association of Florida Inc., et. al. v. Ronald D. DeSantis, et. al.
A sweeping new anti-immigrant law – SB 1718 – took effect in Florida on July 1, 2023. The law harms Florida immigrants and their families and seeks to target and intimidate immigrant families in every facet of their lives. The SPLC and its legal partners filed a federal lawsuit arguing that the law is unconstitutional.…
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- Dismantling White Supremacy
- LGBTQ Rights
Emma Koe, et al. v. Caylee Noggle, et al.
After Georgia passed a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender adolescents, the Southern Poverty Law Center and its partners filed a federal lawsuit to block the law from taking effect and seek a court order ruling that the law is unconstitutional. The law, also known as SB 140, strips parents of their rights to make…
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
In Re: Sandersville Railroad Company’s Petition for Approval to Acquire Real Estate by Condemnation
The privately owned Sandersville Railroad Company is threatening to use eminent domain against property owners in a predominantly Black community in Sparta, Georgia, who have refused to sell portions of their land for a rail spur (a separate track that is connected to the main rail line). The railroad company wants to lay tracks for…
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- Strengthening Democracy & Voting Rights
Ann Saunders, et al. v. State of Mississippi, et al.
After Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed legislation creating a special judicial district within the city of Jackson where judges would be appointed rather than elected – and ultimately disenfranchise Black voters – the Southern Poverty Law Center filed an amicus brief supporting a lawsuit by other advocacy groups challenging the action as a violation of…
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- Strengthening Democracy & Voting Rights
Disability Rights Mississippi, et al. v. Lynn Fitch, et al.
After Mississippi enacted a law that violates the right of residents with disabilities to receive voting assistance from the person of their choice, the Southern Poverty Law Center and its partners challenged the law in federal court. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Disability Rights Mississippi, the League of Women Voters of Mississippi and three…
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community Inc. v. School Board of Orange County, Fla.
When the school board in Orange County, Florida, planned to sell property that was the site of a historic school for Black children in one of the country’s oldest Black communities, a local preservation association represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center filed suit against the school board. The litigation by the Association to Preserve…
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- Ending Unjust Imprisonment
Florida Immigration Coalition Inc., et al. v. Ronald D. DeSantis, et al.
During 2022, Florida established a “Relocation Program” for the “transport of unauthorized aliens from the state.” The Southern Poverty Law Center and its partners filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Section 185 of Florida’s 2022 General Appropriations Act, which created the $12 million program at the request of Gov. Ron DeSantis. The lawsuit, filed on…
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- Strengthening Democracy & Voting Rights
Crowell, et al., v. Cobb County Board of Elections & Registration, et al.
The Southern Poverty Law Center and its allies filed an emergency lawsuit to ensure that nearly 1,000 absentee voters in Cobb County, Georgia, have enough time to cast their votes in the 2022 midterm elections. The lawsuit, filed less than 48 hours before Election Day, seeks to send ballots overnight to each of the 1,000…
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- Ending Unjust Imprisonment
ALEX A. v. EDWARDS
In July 2022, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced a plan to transfer dozens of incarcerated youths to the Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola. The facility is the nation’s largest and has a longstanding record of human rights violations. It housed some 5,000 adult men, the vast majority of them convicted of violent…