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Children's Rights

Date Filed

June 11, 1998

A little girl with a severe speech disorder received a special device to help her communicate with family and friends after the Center settled a class action lawsuit against the Alabama Medicaid Agency in 1998.

Criminal Justice Reform

Date Filed

May 27, 1997

Inside Chess, Harper's, Astronomy, Writer's Digest — only a few of the hundreds of publications effectively banned in 1997 under an arbitrary policy implemented by the Alabama prison's warden. The Center sued, securing an agreement protecting inmates' rights to mailed reading materials.

Immigrant Justice

Date Filed

December 31, 1996

An Alabama tax assessor who used racial slurs denied tax exemptions to non-English speaking immigrant homeowners, and forced them to pay double the normal taxes. The Center filed suit, ending this discriminatory policy and securing reimbursements.

Immigrant Justice
Landmark Case

Date Filed

December 31, 1996

Prior to a Center suit, Alabama immigrants seeking to obtain their state driver's license were turned away or asked to complete the English-only tests. Although the case was ultimately lost on appeal, due to the Center's lawsuit Alabama now offers the driver's license test in eight foreign languages.

Hate & Extremism
Landmark Case

Date Filed

June 07, 1996

On a summer evening in 1995, members of the Christian Knights of the KKK set a fire completely destroying a 100-year-old black Baptist church in South Carolina. The Center sued the Klan on the church's behalf, winning the largest judgment ever awarded against a hate group.

Criminal Justice Reform

Date Filed

December 12, 1995

In 1995, a prison inmate confined to Alabama's segregation unit filed a pro se complaint to protect his First Amendment rights to receive newspapers and magazines. The ruling lifted a statewide ban against segregated inmates receiving outside reading materials.

Criminal Justice Reform
Landmark Case

Date Filed

May 15, 1995

In 1995, Alabama corrections officials brought back the barbarity of chain gangs. The Center sued, claiming that chaining men in groups of five and putting them on busy highways was cruel and dangerous. The lawsuit put an end to the Alabama chain gang and another torturous practice called the "hitching post."

Hate & Extremism
Landmark Case

Date Filed

February 27, 1995

Fearful that his white supremacist group would be sued over the murder of a black sailor, the leader of the Church of the Creator sold the group's property to the late neo-Nazi leader William Pierce. The Center sued and obtained a $1 million judgment against the COTC and a $85,000 judgment against Pierce.

Economic Justice
Landmark Case

Date Filed

November 02, 1994

Indigent dialysis patients face terrible dilemmas, such as being forced to decide whether to buy food or get transportation to medical care. In 1994, the Center filed a suit obtaining medically necessary transportation for Medicaid recipients in need. Although the case was ultimately lost on appeal, Alabama Medicaid recipients currently receive state-funded transportation due to the Center's lawsuit.

Hate & Extremism
Landmark Case

Date Filed

March 07, 1994

For killing an African-American Gulf War veteran, a white supremacist "reverend" received an award of honor from the leaders of the racist Church of the Creator (COTC). In the wake of this horrible crime, the Center sued the COTC for inciting violence against African-Americans.

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