Center for Constitutional Rights

MONDAY! We're thrilled to invite you to the Birmingham screening of the Emmy-winning film Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power, followed by a powerful discussion with both veteran and contemporary Southern organizers, as well as the film’s producer. RSVP: https://lnkd.in/eZeFaR-f 📅 Date: Monday, July 15, 2024 🕒 Time: 7:00pm - 9:30pm. Doors at 6:30. 📍 Location: Sidewalk Cinema, Birmingham, AL 35203 This event, hosted by the Center for Constitutional Rights, Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution, Greater Birmingham Ministries, and People's Budget Birmingham, is FREE and open to the public. However, space is limited, so make sure to register to secure your spot! Panel Discussion Includes: - Reverend Wendell Paris, former SNCC field secretary - Jilisa Milton, Co-Director at Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution - Anya Rous, Producer at Multitude Films - Gabriel Cabán Cubero, Executive Director at People’s Budget Birmingham For questions about access needs, email events@ccrjustice.org.

This week we joined 221 organizations in demanding that administration halt ICE’s immigration detention expansion efforts, restore free phone access to people in detention, and protect the basic rights of people in the agency’s custody. Read the letter at http://bit.ly/lettertoICE As conditions in ICE detention continue to deteriorate, ICE is trying to open new jails across the country. Join us by sign the petition to demand Biden shutdown detention centers at bit.ly/BIDENENDDETENTION

Today the Supreme Court ruled that the local ordinances criminalizing people who are forced to sleep outside, even when they have no other safe option, do not violate the Eighth Amendment or criminalize status, reversing the appellate court's decision. Rather than provide safe shelter to those who need it, hundreds of local governments have criminalized homelessness via similar laws. To be clear, these ordinances put humans in jail because they cannot afford shelter. In violation of the 8th Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, these laws target status crimes, punishing people for who they are. Amid a national affordable housing crisis, the ruling affirms the prevailing punitive approach to homelessness, which treats unhoused people as threatening intruders to be controlled and exiled, rather than fellow citizens and residents who simply need shelter. It also empowers the State to continue to shrink “the commons” both by restricting use of public land and selling it to private entities. Local governments will, for example, use this ruling to suppress Palestinian solidarity activists and other political dissidents who use public land to express their views. Furthermore, as detailed in an amicus brief we submitted on behalf of 46 groups, the ruling will inflict disproportionate harm on LGBTQIA+ people, because they are unhoused at extremely high rates due to discrimination, bias, and family rejection. Homelessness is especially prevalent among LGBTQIA+ youth: although less than 10 percent of the U.S population, they make up 40 percent of unhoused youth and 65 percent of youth enduring chronic homelessness, and LGBTQIA+ youth of color are even more likely to be unhoused. The Supreme Court, a historically reactionary institution, is growing ever more hostile to the needs of low-income Americans and other marginalized groups. Our partners at National Homelessness Law Center are correct—this latest SCOTUS ruling will make homelessness worse. Arresting and fining people for trying to survive is not only cruel, it is expensive and counterproductive. We are enraged but not surprised that the Supreme Court sided with out-of-touch billionaires and against the most vulnerable among us. The fight does not end here. We will continue to champion the rights of unhoused people in court, but as always, the best hope for our collective liberation and safety is grassroots politics rooted in solidarity. For information on how to support #HousingNotHandcuffs, visit https://lnkd.in/d_VmzRVQ

On Juneteenth, we recommit to the fight to abolish slavery in the U.S. in all forms, once and for all. Prison slavery persists. Across the country, prison authorities use the threat of punishment to force incarcerated people to work for pennies per hour or no pay at all, often under brutal conditions. Corporations like Walmart and McDonald's profit from their labor, and incarcerated workers make billions for state governments, mitigating the costs of their own confinement. With an incarceration rate five times that of white people, Black people are much more likely to provide slave labor, and some are forced to work in the same plantations fields where enslaved people labored before the Civil War. In Alabama, the continued use of forced prison labor stands in stark contrast to the governor’s declaration of Juneteenth as a state holiday earlier this year; so today, the state is celebrating the end of the slavery while perpetuating it. We are proud to represent incarcerated workers as they seek to abolish forced prison labor, and we will continue to support them until slavery is banned everywhere, once and for all, in all its forms – not just in the law but in practice.

On Friday Judge Brinkema granted our plaintiffs’ motion for a new trial in Al Shimari v. CACI. This new trial is likely to be scheduled in October. In granting this retrial, Brinkema denied CACI’s motion to have the case dismissed (“judgment as a matter of law”). The fight continues. In May, after eight days of deliberations following a six-day trial, the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict in our longstanding case Al Shimari v. CACI. The case was filed against the Virginia-based company for its well-documented role in the torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of three Iraqi men held in 2003-2004 at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison during the early months of the U.S. occupation. “What happened in Abu Ghraib is engraved into our memories and will never be forgotten in history,” said plaintiff Salah Al-Ejaili in May. “Every just person stands with us.” This continues the 16 year legal struggle for some measure of justice by three Iraqi Abu Ghraib torture survivors. We are honored to continue to represent our clients against the Virginia-based company for its role in the torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of our clients endured at the infamous prison. More info at bit.ly/al-shimari

Starting soon! Senior Staff Attorney Katie Gallagher joins Ahmed Abofoul and Jeff Handmaker for part 3 of Untold stories about occupied Palestine "The International Criminal Court: Justice denied?" RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/e7TBwPvK

The post-hearing press conference in our landmark case Palestine v. Biden is now available on our Youtube. The press conference followed oral argument in the Ninth Circuit District Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Watch here: https://lnkd.in/edkpQmj4

📢 Jackson, MS's ongoing water crisis exposes systemic issues of access & accountability. Residents face unsafe water, rising bills, and opaque management by JXN Water. It's time for public investment, community involvement, and real solutions, says Danyelle Holmes. Read more via Mississippi Free Press.

In Jackson, MS, a water crisis persists, highlighting systemic neglect and a battle for community control. Despite federal intervention, privatization looms. Residents demand transparency and a voice in rebuilding their infrastructure. Read more via Grist

Huge congratulations to Afrika Owes, former Legal and Advocacy Administrative Associate here at the Center for Constitutional Rights, for passing the bar exam — on the first try! Your journey is awe-inspiring and a testament to your tenacity. You're not just breaking barriers; you're shattering them. We're immensely proud of you!