The SPLC, the Law Offices of Joshua Spector, P.A. and the Education Law Center of New Jersey filed a lawsuit that seeks a hearing before the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings to invalidate an emergency rule...
We have 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.
The SPLC, the Law Offices of Joshua Spector, P.A. and the Education Law Center of New Jersey filed a lawsuit that seeks a hearing before the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings to invalidate an emergency rule...
After Alabama failed to provide an absentee voting program that is fully accessible to voters who are blind or have print disabilities, the Southern Poverty Law Center and its co-counsel filed an administrative complaint asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the program.
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In April 2021, the Florida Legislature enacted the Combating Violence, Disorder and Looting and Law Enforcement Protection Act, also known as HB 1. Gov. Ron DeSantis and other leading proponents of HB 1 were explicit: HB 1 was a direct response to – and a means to oppose – the summer 2020 Black...
When Alabama lawmakers drew new state legislative districts in 2021, they deliberately diminished the power of Black voters, continuing the state’s sordid record of racial discrimination in the electoral system. The Southern Poverty Law Center and its co-counsel filed a federal lawsuit...
After Black Georgia voters saw their voting power weakened by the newly drawn boundaries of three congressional districts, the Southern Poverty Law Center and its co-counsel filed a federal lawsuit challenging the racially gerrymandered districts on behalf of voting rights groups and Georgia...
After Mississippi failed to provide COVID-19 vaccine access in an equitable manner, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a federal administrative complaint describing how the failure violated civil rights law.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of Mississippi and other public and...
The Southern Poverty Law Center and allied organizations filed a federal lawsuit challenging the voting district lines used to elect members of the Mississippi Supreme Court. The suit contends that the lines, which have not been adjusted in 35 years, dilute the voting strength of Black voters....
Alabama’s absentee ballot program is inaccessible to blind voters and voters with print disabilities. It requires those voters to secure another person’s assistance to complete their absentee ballot – forfeiting their right to vote privately and independently.
The SPLC and its co-counsel...
After Florida passed an “anti-sanctuary cities” law mandating cooperation agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) requiring local law enforcement agencies to use their “best efforts” to support federal immigration law enforcement and prohibiting local sanctuary policies, the...
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...