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U.S. EEOC, et al. vs. Tuscarora Yarns
filed 05/21/2009
Agenda area: Other
A Latina factory worker in North Carolina was brutally assaulted by the plant manager after she had earlier reported his sexual harassment to officials of the yarn company that employed her, according to a federal court complaint filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
» View Case File |
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D.W., et al. v. Harrison County, Miss.
filed 04/20/2009
Agenda area: Juvenile Justice
Children held at the Harrison County Juvenile Detention Center in Mississippi endured squalid conditions and horrific physical and mental abuse that violated their civil rights. Children were forced to endure shackling, physical assaults by staff, confinement to vermin-infested cells and overcrowded, unsanitary conditions that resulted in widespread contraction of scabies and staph infections. The detention center also failed to provide children with adequate medical and mental health care during their confinement.
» View Case File |
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CATA v. Chao
filed 01/18/2009
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
New regulations for the nation's H-2B guestworker program threatened to weaken worker protections and make it easier to replace U.S. workers with temporary foreign labor.
» View Case File |
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Juana Montano-Pérez, et al. v. Durrett Cheese Sales, Inc.
filed 10/16/2008
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
A dozen Latino workers at a Tennessee cheese factory went weeks without pay and endured an abusive work environment before demanding paychecks from an employer, who then had them arrested, jailed and threatened with deportation. The Southern Poverty Law Center filed a federal lawsuit charging the company, its president and members of the local sheriff’s department with conspiring to violate the rights of the workers.
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Hillsborough County Special Education
filed 10/01/2008
Agenda area: Education
Students with disabilities in Hillsborough County, Fla., were deprived of special education services required by law and subjected to harsh punishment that pushed them along a path to incarceration. The Southern Poverty Law Center, joined by the Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities, filed a class action administrative complaint to bring Hillsborough County schools into compliance with federal special education law and end practices that exclude or isolate children with disabilities.
» View Case File |
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Palm Beach County Special Education Case
filed 10/01/2008
Agenda area: Education
Students with disabilities in Palm Beach County, Fla., endured a culture of neglect and overly harsh discipline because the school district failed to provide the counseling, social work and psychological services required by law. The Southern Poverty Law Center and a coalition of advocacy groups filed a class action administrative complaint to bring Palm Beach County schools into compliance with federal special education law and end practices that exclude or isolate children with disabilities.
» View Case File |
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State of Alabama v. Victor Marquez
filed 05/14/2008
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
Victor Marquez was traveling to his hometown in Querétero, Mexico, to pay for his new home only to have the money seized by police who alleged it was drug money. During the May 5, 2008, traffic stop in Loxley, Ala., a police officer confiscated more than $19,000 from Marquez even though he earned a majority of the money by working the bean harvest in south Florida. Marquez was not charged. The Southern Poverty Law Center has taken legal action seeking the return of the money.
» View Case File |
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Fredi Garcia, et al. v. Audubon Communities Management, LLC, et al.
filed 03/17/2008
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
Immigrant workers hired to repair storm-damaged apartments in New Orleans were routinely cheated out of wages and endured forced labor while living in crowded and dilapidated employer-provided housing. This federal lawsuit brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center, together with the Pro Bono Project and the National Employment Law Project, alleges the employers violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Victims of Trafficking Protection Act.
» View Case File |
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David, et al. v. Signal International LLC
filed 03/10/2008
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
Hundreds of guestworkers from India, lured by false promises of permanent U.S. residency, paid tens of thousands of dollars each to obtain temporary jobs at Gulf Coast shipyards only to find themselves forced into involuntary servitude and living in overcrowded, guarded labor camps, according to a class action lawsuit.
» View Case File |
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Calcasieu Parish Public School System Administrative Complaint
filed 09/21/2007
Agenda area: Education
At the Calcasieu Parish Public School System in Louisiana, students with disabilities or emotional disturbances were deprived of the educational services required under federal law. The SPLC filed a class administrative complaint against the school district and reached a negotiated settlement agreement ensuring the services are provided and these students are not arbitrarily removed from class.
» View Case File |
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J.A., et al. v. Barbour, et al.
filed 07/11/2007
Agenda area: Juvenile Justice
The Southern Poverty Law Center filed suit on behalf of mentally ill girls living at the Columbia Training School who were shackled, physically and sexually abused, and provided with inadequate mental health treatment.
» View Case File |
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Rosalino Perez-Benites et al. v. Candy Brand LLC et al.
filed 06/07/2007
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
Brought on behalf of about 2,700 Mexican migrant workers who harvested and packed tomatoes and performed other agricultural work, this lawsuit alleges that Candy Brand failed to pay federally mandated overtime wages for work in its packing sheds and the prevailing wage for work in the fields. The company also refused to reimburse workers for the exorbitant travel, visa and other hiring fees, according to the lawsuit.
» View Case File |
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Holmes County Class Administrative Complaint Regarding Special Education
filed 05/30/2007
Agenda area: Education
The Holmes County School District in Mississippi was systematically violating the rights of students with disabilities by failing to provide them with the educational services required under federal law. The district has agreed to a plan that will help ensure students with disabilities are identified and given educational services required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act.
» View Case File |
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Jordan Gruver v. Imperial Klans of America
filed 02/22/2007
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
The Southern Poverty Law Center filed suit against the Imperial Klans of America and four Klansmen, saying several members were on a recruiting mission for the group in July 2006 when they savagely beat a teenage boy at a county fair in Kentucky.
» View Case File |
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Caddo Parish Special Education
filed 12/13/2006
Agenda area: Education
A class administrative complaint against the Caddo parish, Louisiana, school district.
» View Case File |
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Mancha v. ICE
filed 11/01/2006
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
Federal immigration agents conducted illegal searches and relied on racial and ethnic profiling while carrying out a massive series of raids, according to this federal lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
» View Case File |
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Daniel Castellanos-Contreras, et al. v. Decatur Hotels, LLC et al.
filed 08/16/2006
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
H-2B workers were brought to the U.S. to work in defendant's New Orleans hotels. Workers have not been compensated as promised, and U.S. workers are available to perform needed duties.
» View Case File |
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East Baton Rouge Special Education
filed 05/10/2006
Agenda area: Education
Mediated class settlement agreement on behalf of students with emotional disturbance who were denied federally required special education services
» View Case File |
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Hector Luna, et al. v. Del Monte Fresh Produce (Southeast), Inc., et al.
filed 04/21/2006
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
The class action was filed by the Center's Immigrant Justice Project (IJP) on behalf of migrant farmworkers who were underpaid while working in south Georgia for subsidiaries of the food giant Del Monte.
» View Case File |
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Secretary of Labor v. Gold Kist
filed 02/09/2006
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
Despite OSHA’s Aug.14 order to correct serious and repeat violations at the Gold Kist poultry-processing facility in Russellville, Ala., the company still refuses to accept responsibility and clean up its act. The company is appealing the $143,000 in fines and has even blamed violations on workers.
» View Case File |
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Rodrigues et al. v. Belfor USA Group Inc.
filed 02/01/2006
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
Belfor settled with the Center in September 2006, agreeing to reimburse unpaid overtime wages and take measures to ensure the company and their subcontractors pay all future workers according to FLSA.
» View Case File |
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Navarrete-Cruz v. LVI Environmental Services of New Orleans, Inc., et al.
filed 02/01/2006
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
LVI used a subcontractor system to avoid paying workers the wages owed to them. One of the large subcontractors used by LVI, defendant D&L;, Environmental, Inc., failed to pay many of its migrant workers anything for much of their labor.
» View Case File |
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Rosiles-Perez, et al. v. Superior Forestry Service Inc., et al.
filed 01/25/2006
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
Class action lawsuit against Superior Forestry for violations of minimum wage and overtime protections and for other violations of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.
» View Case File |
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U.S. EEOC et al. v. Gargiulo, Inc.
filed 09/25/2005
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
The lawsuit alleged five Haitian women working at Gargiulo Inc.'s tomato packinghouse in Immokalee were subjected to repeated, unwelcome sexual advances by their supervisor and then faced retaliation after they complained. The retaliation included the firing of three of the women.
» View Case File |
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Johnson v. Amox et al.
filed 09/19/2005
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
This is a lawsuit against four young white men who terrorized, humiliated and beat a mentally retarded African-American man, dumped his unconscious body on the side of a dark country road and left him for dead. In 2007, a jury awarded a $9 million verdict to help the family pay for the care the victim will need for the rest of his life.
» View Case File |
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Escolastico De Leon-Granados v. Eller and Sons, Inc.
filed 06/06/2005
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
Class action lawsuit against forestry company for violations of minimum wage and overtime protections, and for other violations of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.
» View Case File |
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Federico Salinas-Rodriguez v. Alpha Services, Inc.
filed 04/14/2005
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
Class action lawsuit against forestry company for violations of minimum wage and overtime protections, and for other violations of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act
» View Case File |
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Hugo Martin Recinos-Recinos, et al. v. Express Forestry Inc., et al.
filed 04/07/2005
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
Class action lawsuit against forestry company for violations of minimum wage and overtime protections and for other violations of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.
» View Case File |
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Jefferson Parish Special Education case
filed 02/01/2005
Agenda area: Education
Mediated class settlement agreement on behalf of students with Emotional Disturbance who were denied federally required special education services
» View Case File |
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K.L.W. v. James
filed 04/13/2004
Agenda area: Juvenile Justice
At Columbia Training School, one of Mississippi's abusive juvenile prisons, a policy made it nearly impossible for injured children to speak with attorneys who are willing to help.
» View Case File |
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In re: Linda Cano
filed 03/29/2004
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
Linda Barrera Cano, 11, was taken from her mother, Felipa Barrera, and placed in foster care after her immigrant mother was ordered to learn English in six months or risk losing her daughter.
» View Case File |
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Mattie T. et al. v. Johnson
filed 12/15/2003
Agenda area: Education
Originally filed in 1975, this class action lawsuit is aimed at improving the education provided to thousands of Mississippi schoolchildren with educational disabilities.
» View Case File |
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Leiva v. Ranch Rescue
filed 06/26/2003
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
Assault and false imprisonment against a group of immigrants brought Ranch Rescue - a fringe group of paramilitary vigilantes dedicated to anti-immigrant border patrols - to the national spotlight. Ranch Rescue's most recent intimidation campaign led to a suit seeking justice for the immigrants they terrorized. Plaintiffs obtained judgments and a settlement totaling almost $1.5 million.
» View Case File |
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Baker v. Campbell
filed 05/13/2003
Agenda area: Institutionalized persons
Due to a lack of access to doctors and long delays in diagnosis and treatment, seriously ill inmates at one of Alabama's maximum-security prisons sued to receive adequate healthcare.
» View Case File |
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Gaddis v. Campbell
filed 04/09/2003
Agenda area: Institutionalized persons
Diabetic inmates in Alabama face vision loss, convulsions, and amputations due to substandard care. Others are at risk of heart attacks, nerve damage, strokes, kidney failure, and death. The case has reached a precedent-setting settlement and is currently in a monitoring phase.
» View Case File |
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Maxwell v. Haley
filed 08/13/2002
Agenda area: Institutionalized persons
The ventilation system on Alabama's death row was broken, resulting in stifling, stagnant, medically dangerous heat in the prisoners' 55-square foot cells. The Center sued to allow inmates to purchase fans at their own expense. An anonymous donor provided free fans to all death row inmates.
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Hope v. Pelzer
filed 02/21/2002
Agenda area: Institutionalized persons
When Alabama correctional guards handcuffed Larry Hope to a metal hitching post and left him shirtless, virtually without water, and without bathroom breaks in the Alabama sun for seven hours, they should have known that their actions were unlawful, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002.
» View Case File |
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Gonzalez Machado v. Ashcroft
filed 02/19/2002
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
Each year, thousands of immigrant children are detained and deported. Alone, unable to speak English, and without lawyers, they wait in detention centers to learn their fate. The Center filed a groundbreaking lawsuit to establish their right to legal representation, but the case was dismissed. The district court ruled that children do not have a legal right to an attorney during removal proceedings.
» View Case File |
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Glassroth v. Moore
filed 10/30/2001
Agenda area: First Amendment
Under cover of night and without the knowledge of his fellow justices, the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court installed a 2 1/2-ton Ten Commandments monument in the rotunda of the state judicial building. The Center sued, and the monument was removed from public display; Chief Justice was subsequently removed from office due to ethics violations.
» View Case File |
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Sells v. Berry
filed 01/18/2000
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
The Imperial Wizard of one of the most aggressive Klan groups in the country detained and terrorized two journalists covering a story about a planned Klan rally. The Center sued, winning a $120,000 judgment, and investigating criminal charges that sent the Klan leader to prison.
» View Case File |
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Prison Legal News, et al. v. Haley
filed 05/13/1999
Agenda area: Institutionalized persons
The Alabama DOC prohibited its prisoners from receiving gift subscriptions for publications. Inmates were forced to buy subscriptions from their prison trust accounts.
» View Case File |
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Keenan v. Aryan Nations
filed 01/25/1999
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
Victoria and Jason Keenan were chased and shot at by members of the Aryan Nations in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Held at gunpoint, the mother and son feared for their lives. The Center sued and obtained a $6.3 million jury verdict; Aryan Nations was forced to turn its compound over to the victims it had terrorized.
» View Case File |
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Penny Doe v. Richardson
filed 10/13/1998
Agenda area: Education
An African-American teenager was denied school enrollment simply because she was homeless. The Center immediately sued, and "Penny Doe" was soon enrolled in school. The case was settled with officials adopting policies to ensure compliance with federal law.
» View Case File |
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Jouhari/Horton v. United Klans of America/Frankhouser
filed 08/28/1998
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
In 1988, a white fair housing advocate and her daughter were harassed and threatened over the internet by Klansmen and neo-Nazis. After they filed complaints with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Center achieved justice against the hate groups.
» View Case File |
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Brown v. James
filed 06/11/1998
Agenda area: Health Justice
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.
» View Case File |
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Johnson v. Mitchem
filed 05/27/1997
Agenda area: Institutionalized persons
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.
» View Case File |
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Telleria v. Cooley
filed 12/31/1996
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
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.
» View Case File |
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Sandoval v. Alexander
filed 12/31/1996
Agenda area: Immigrant Rights
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.
» View Case File |
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Macedonia v. Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
filed 06/07/1996
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
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.
» View Case File |
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Spellman v. Hopper
filed 12/12/1995
Agenda area: Institutionalized persons
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.
» View Case File |
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Austin v. James
filed 05/15/1995
Agenda area: Institutionalized persons
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."
» View Case File |
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Mansfield v. Pierce
filed 02/27/1995
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
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.
» View Case File |
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Harris v. James
filed 11/02/1994
Agenda area: Health Justice
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.
» View Case File |
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Mansfield v. Church of the Creator
filed 03/07/1994
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
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.
» View Case File |
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Holmes v. Hunt
filed 12/01/1992
Agenda area: Racial Justice
For some it's a symbol of oppression; for others, a symbol of pride. The Confederate battle flag had flown over the Alabama state capitol since 1963, until a lawsuit by the Center forced it down.
» View Case File |
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Bradley v. Haley
filed 01/15/1992
Agenda area: Institutionalized persons
Mental health experts described the conditions for Alabama's seriously mentally ill prisoners as "horrific" and "primitive." Mentally ill inmates were locked in isolation, usually without proper medication, and deprived of professional mental health services such as therapy and counseling. The Center sued and secured change for the inmates.
» View Case File |
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Berhanu v. Metzger
filed 11/22/1989
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
In 1988, racist Skinheads beat an Ethiopian graduate student to death with a baseball bat. Mulugeta Seraw was murdered by recruits of neo-Nazi leader Tom Metzger, founder of White Aryan Resistance (WAR), who faced a Center civil suit and a $12.5 million judgment.
» View Case File |
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R.C. v. Fuller
filed 11/15/1988
Agenda area: Juvenile Justice
Concerned about inappropriate services and mental health treatment provided to children placed in Alabama foster care, the Center joined with mental health lawyers and sued in 1988, forcing drastic changes in the ways these cases are handled.
» View Case File |
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Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Alabama v. Evans
filed 05/11/1988
Agenda area: Racial Justice
In 1988, only 11 of Alabama's 223 trial judges were black. The Center sued to end a system denying racial minorities the chance to elect judicial candidates of their choice. The federal district court disagreed, upholding a voting system found unfair in other states.
» View Case File |
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McKinney v. Southern White Knights
filed 03/24/1987
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
"Black and white together" is one of verses of the famous civil rights hymn, "We Shall Overcome." But when blacks and whites marched together in all-white Forsyth County, Georgia, in 1987, they were greeted with Klansmen throwing rocks and shouting racial slurs.
» View Case File |
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Donald v. United Klans of America
filed 06/14/1984
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
On March 20, 1981, members of the United Klans of America abducted a young African-American man at random, put a noose around his neck, beat him, cut his throat and hung his body from a tree. The Center sued the Klansmen and won an historic $7 million judgment.
» View Case File |
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Person v. Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
filed 06/05/1984
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
In the mid-1980s, a North Carolina Klan group was one of the most militant and violent, engaging in paramilitary-style training, using U.S. military personnel to prepare recruits for combat. After a series of terrorizing incidents, the Center sued the Klan and won court orders shutting down their illegal training camps.
» View Case File |
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Nowak v. Foster
filed 02/17/1984
Agenda area: Education
For years, unmined coal in Kentucky was virtually exempt from taxation, leaving Kentucky's public schools and other services grossly underfunded. Fair tax advocates worked with the Center to file suit challenging Kentucky's unfair tax system, resulting in improved regulations.
» View Case File |
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Candy H. v. Redemption Ranch, Inc., et al.
filed 02/10/1982
Agenda area: Juvenile Justice
The Center sought a permanent injunction in 1982 to stop operators of the church-run Bethesda Home for Girls from physically and emotionally abusing the "wayward" girls sent to them for care and instruction.
» View Case File |
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Vietnamese Fishermen's Association v. Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
filed 04/16/1981
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
Armed men in Klan robes spewed hate-filled threats, burned crosses and destroyed shrimp boats. White fishermen, fearful of competition from Vietnamese immigrants, invited the Klan to Galveston Bay, Texas. The Center sued and brought an end to their illegal activities, including paramilitary training camps.
» View Case File |
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Brown v. Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
filed 11/03/1980
Agenda area: Hate Groups/Hate Crimes
In 1979, over 100 Klan members attacked Decatur, Alabama marchers protesting the conviction of Tommy Lee Hines, a retarded black man accused of rape. After a ten-year fight, the Center secured criminal convictions and financial compensation for the victims.
» View Case File |
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Wilkins v. Lanier
filed 10/19/1979
Agenda area: Health Justice
Cotton mill workers contracted brown lung, or byssinosis, by inhaling tiny dust particles on a daily basis as they went about their work. The Center sued, achieving a breakthrough financial settlement and regulations to protect the health and safety of cotton mill workers.
» View Case File |
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Beck v. Alabama
filed 01/01/1979
Agenda area: Death Penalty
The United States Supreme Court struck down Alabama's "kill 'em or let 'em go" death penalty statute in a landmark decision that reversed the Alabama State Supreme Court and vacated the death sentences of plaintiff Gilbert Beck and 10 other men on death row.
» View Case File |
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Dothard v. Rawlinson
filed 09/21/1976
Agenda area: Gender Discrimination
In this landmark sex discrimination case, two Alabama women applied for jobs traditionally reserved for men. One sought to become a state trooper, the other a correctional officer; both were rejected. The Supreme Court's landmark decision in favor of the women opened doors nationwide for women to be hired in law enforcement careers.
» View Case File |
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Morgan v. Sproat
filed 02/04/1975
Agenda area: Juvenile Justice
Although this constitutional challenge to horrific conditions at a juvenile center was filed by other lawyers in 1975, the Center and the Mississippi Center for Justice took over in 2003 to enforce a judgment that had been ignored for more than 25 years.
» View Case File |
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Pugh v. Locke
filed 02/26/1974
Agenda area: Institutionalized persons
Conditions in Alabama's prisons were an inhumane nightmare - violent, overcrowded and unsanitary. In a 1976 landmark ruling, a federal judge declared the prisons "wholly unfit for human habitation" and ordered detailed reforms.
» View Case File |
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Relf v. Weinberger
filed 07/17/1973
Agenda area: Racial Justice
The Relf sisters challenged the constitutionality of government regulations that allowed federal funds to be used to sterilize minors and mentally-challenged women who were not competent to consent to the procedure.
» View Case File |
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Frontiero v. Richardson
filed 11/29/1972
Agenda area: Gender Discrimination
A married female Air Force officer sued the U.S. Department of Defense to secure the same benefits enjoyed by married male officers. The Center's historic challenge led to a landmark Supreme Court decision, the first successful sex discrimination lawsuit against the federal government.
» View Case File |
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Paradise v. Allen
filed 01/03/1972
Agenda area: Racial Justice
As late as 1972, there was not a single African American Alabama state trooper in a state that is one-quarter black. African Americans were refused jobs as troopers, but were easily hired as janitors. The Center filed suit, challenging the state's blatant racial discrimination.
» View Case File |
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Wyatt v. Sawyer
filed 10/23/1970
Agenda area: Institutionalized persons
"Dehumanizing." "Intolerable." "Grossly deficient." These were some of the words a federal judge used to describe conditions at Alabama's mental health facilities in the 1970s. Center attorneys worked with others for years to bring Alabama into compliance with the minimum standards of care ordered by the judge.
» View Case File |
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Nixon v. Brewer
filed 01/13/1970
Agenda area: Racial Justice
This suit forced Alabama to reapportion its state legislature and discard the voting system that diluted the voting strength of African Americans. The result was the adoption of single-member districts and the 1974 election of 17 black legislators.
» View Case File |
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Smith v. Young Men's Christian Association
filed 06/11/1969
Agenda area: Racial Justice
When Montgomery, Alabama, closed its public parks and pools rather than integrate them, the local YMCA took over the city's recreational needs. As the YMCA continued to exclude blacks, Center co-founder Morris Dees sued and won a landmark court order that forced the YMCA to integrate its programs.
» View Case File |
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