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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- Strengthening Democracy & Voting Rights
Telisa Clark, et al. v. John Bel Edwards, et al.
The Southern Poverty Law Center and its allies filed a federal lawsuit against Louisiana officials over the state’s failure to ensure safe voting processes during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. The lawsuit challenges Louisiana’s burdensome requirements surrounding absentee ballots that put the health and lives of voters at risk, particularly older voters and Black voters. The…
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- Ending Unjust Imprisonment
Southern Poverty Law Center v. Florida Department of Corrections
After the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) failed to adequately respond to public records requests by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the SPLC sued the department for the documents outlining the prison system’s policies for addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in its facilities. The lawsuit was filed almost two months after the records requests were submitted…
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- Strengthening Democracy & Voting Rights
People First of Alabama, et al. v. John Merrill, et al.
As elections approached in Alabama during the COVID-19 pandemic, the state failed to provide safe and accessible voting, potentially disenfranchising tens of thousands of voters. The SPLC and its allies filed a federal lawsuit to compel state officials to make absentee and in-person voting more accessible to protect the health and safety of Alabama voters.…
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- Ending Unjust Imprisonment
Gayle, et al. v. Meade, et al.
As the COVID-19 virus threatened the health and lives of people held at immigration detention centers in 2020, the SPLC and its allies filed a federal class action lawsuit seeking the immediate release of all people held at three detention centers in South Florida. The complaint describes how granting the release of detained people would allow…
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- Ending Unjust Imprisonment
Jenner Benavides, et al. v. Patrick Gartland, et al.
The SPLC and its allies filed a lawsuit seeking the immediate release of people with preexisting health conditions held at a south Georgia detention center during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 – a situation that placed these detained people at greater risk of contracting the virus that causes the disease. The lawsuit warns of an…
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- Ending Unjust Imprisonment
Aristoteles Sanchez Martinez, et al. v. Michael Donahue, et al.
During the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, the SPLC and its allies filed a lawsuit seeking the immediate release of people with preexisting health conditions held at two south Georgia immigration detention centers, where they are at greater risk of contracting the virus that causes the disease. The lawsuit warns of an imminent catastrophe at the…
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- Ending Unjust Imprisonment
Joseph Lloyd Thompson, et al. v. Thomas Giles, et al.
During the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, the SPLC and its allies filed a lawsuit seeking the immediate release of people with preexisting health conditions held at three south Georgia immigration detention centers, where they are at greater risk of contracting the virus that causes the disease. The lawsuit warns of an imminent catastrophe at the…
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
McEwen, et al. v. Lee, et al.
Tennessee’s voucher program threatened to siphon hundreds of millions of tax dollars from Nashville and Memphis public schools to private schools, raising the specter of more budget cuts for already underfunded public schools. The SPLC and its allies filed a lawsuit in state court challenging the program as an unconstitutional diversion of public education funding.…
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
Alabama Schools Due Process Lawsuits
Alabama is the only state in the Southeast that lacks statutory due process protections for students facing long-term suspension or expulsion. Without a state law, each of the 138 school districts in Alabama is left to develop its own protections and procedures. This has resulted in haphazard, inconsistent and disproportionate disciplinary outcomes for students. The…
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
Jonathan Singleton, et al. v. City of Montgomery, Alabama, et al.
The state of Alabama enacted laws against solicitation that violate the First Amendment’s freedom of speech protection. The SPLC and its allies filed a federal lawsuit to immediately stop the city, county and state from enforcing two unconstitutional statutes that prohibit soliciting help in the form of food or monetary donations. The complaint describes how…