/access-to-justice?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section Latest articles for: Access to Justice Copyright 2025 °µÍø½ûÇø. en-US Fri, 30 May 2025 19:00:31 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2340191?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2340191 At the beginning of May, an Arizona state court judge permitted an artificial intelligence-generated victim impact statement of a deceased victim at a sentencing hearing, leaving some attorneys concerned about how admitting these types of videos might affect sentencing in other cases. Fri, 30 May 2025 19:00:31 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2340207?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2340207 Local zoning and planning boards, usually unelected decision-making bodies, often operate with sweeping discretion that can provide cover for discrimination against religious communities. But backed by pro bono attorneys, religious groups are leaning on a 2000 federal law in their bid for court intervention. Fri, 30 May 2025 19:00:29 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2329209?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2329209 A federal jury awarded $28 million to John Walker Jr., a man wrongfully convicted of murder nearly 50 years ago, after finding that prosecutors in Erie County, New York, systematically ignored criminal defendants' constitutional rights. The verdict hinged on the Monell doctrine, a hard-to-prove legal theory that allows civil rights plaintiffs to hold governments liable for constitutional violations stemming from official policy, custom, or widespread failure to supervise public officials. Fri, 30 May 2025 17:08:17 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2340986?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2340986 Though the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the Gonzalez v. U.S. warrantless arrest case, Justice Sonia Sotomayor's statement regarding the denial suggests that the defense bar should continue pursuing federal court arguments that the Fourth Amendment incorporates an in-the-presence limitation, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell. Fri, 30 May 2025 16:55:34 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2346247?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2346247 The gap between the need for civil legal services for Californians and the help that is actually available has grown over the past five years, as has the income level of those affected by that gap, according to a new study from the State Bar of California. Thu, 22 May 2025 18:42:54 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2343800?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2343800 Five nonprofit and community organizations whose grants were terminated by the U.S. Department of Justice have launched a class action in D.C. federal court challenging the department's "abrupt and unlawful" cancellation of $820 million in grant funding. Fri, 16 May 2025 20:53:14 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2341480?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2341480 The Ninth Circuit ruled Friday that two Oakland police officers violated the rights of innocent bystanders and are not entitled to qualified immunity following a high-speed pursuit that left one person dead and several others injured. Fri, 16 May 2025 12:28:28 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2337624?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2337624 The criminal justice decisions the U.S. Supreme Court will announce in the coming weeks will reveal whether last term’s fractured decision-making has continued, an important data point as the justices’ alignment seems to correlate with who benefits from a case’s outcome, says Sharon Fairley at the University of Chicago Law School. Thu, 15 May 2025 10:40:33 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2322136?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2322136 The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for a civil rights lawsuit against a Houston-area traffic officer who shot and killed a fleeing man, ruling that courts must weigh the full sequence of events — not just the instant a threat arises — when deciding if police used excessive force. Thu, 15 May 2025 07:01:29 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2339650?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2339650 People who were wrongfully detained too long by immigration authorities have three additional months to file claims under a $92.5 million settlement, one of the largest immigration-related civil rights deals in New York City history, according to an announcement Thursday by the law firm that won the deal.  Tue, 13 May 2025 23:37:53 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2339469?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2339469 A Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday stopped short of ordering a receiver to take control of Rikers Island in an effort to clamp down on incidents of excessive force against the jail population, instead opting for a "remediation manager" with more narrow powers to work in collaboration with city officials to reform the notorious jail complex. Fri, 09 May 2025 19:01:28 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2336259?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2336259 Immigration detainees are bringing about a sea change in workers’ rights behind bars, chipping away at the assumption that people in civil detention or in prison fall outside the reach of minimum wage laws and protections against forced labor. Fri, 09 May 2025 19:01:28 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2337621?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2337621 Prisoners returning from a farm detail are escorted by a prison guard mounted on a horse that had been broken by the prisoners at Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) Fri, 09 May 2025 19:01:27 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2336225?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2336225 Inmates battling wildfires are just the tip of the iceberg in a largely invisible workforce of more than 800,000 people who work for meager pay while incarcerated. Civil rights lawyers, advocates and some elected officials are pushing to change the legal framework that enables prison labor practices, which many trace back to American slavery and the 13th Amendment. Fri, 09 May 2025 17:14:39 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2337614?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2337614 Though several states have changed their constitutions to close the 13th Amendment’s carveout that allows slavery as punishment for a crime, it is now incumbent on the legal profession to transform the amendments into effectuated rights, says Adam Davidson at University of Chicago Law School. Thu, 08 May 2025 19:22:33 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2337737?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2337737 The debate regarding whether incarcerated people who perform work are employees and thus entitled to federal wage and hour protections is set to continue to develop. Listen to °µÍø½ûÇø Explores: Subminimum Wage Part 2. Thu, 08 May 2025 18:38:26 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2337750?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2337750 Despite a growing body of case law laying out a blueprint for determining whether incarcerated workers are employees — which would legally entitle them to minimum wage and other protections — there is no definitive way to classify workers behind bars. Thu, 08 May 2025 18:04:56 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2336510?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2336510 Sonia Kumar has spent her 17-year legal career representing people who have spent decades behind bars in Maryland prisons. As a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, Kumar has fought for racial justice and combated abuses within the prison system. Thu, 08 May 2025 18:04:11 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2335169?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2335169 While courts grapple with whether incarcerated workers are employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act and thus entitled to minimum wage and other protections, congressional Democrats plan to make another attempt to update the statute to answer that question. Mon, 05 May 2025 16:47:37 +0000 /access-to-justice/articles/2335643?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=section /access-to-justice/articles/2335643 The Connecticut Superior Court's rules committee on Monday advanced a plan that could allow attorneys to earn minimum continuing legal education credits by providing pro bono legal services, potentially placing the state among just three that allow lawyers to earn half their yearly requirements through volunteering.