Civil rights case docket
Summaries of our current and historical civil rights cases.
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.
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- Eliminating Poverty
Case
In Re: Sandersville Railroad Company’s Petition for Approval to Acquire Real Estate by Condemnation
The privately owned Sandersville Railroad Company is threatening to use eminent domain against property owners in a predominantly Black community in Sparta, Georgia, who have refused to sell portions of their land for a rail spur (a separate track that is connected to the main rail line). The railroad company wants to lay tracks for…
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- Strengthening Democracy & Voting Rights
- Voting Rights – MS
Case
Ann Saunders, et al. v. State of Mississippi, et al.
After Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed legislation creating a special judicial district within the city of Jackson where judges would be appointed rather than elected – and ultimately disenfranchise Black voters – the Southern Poverty Law Center filed an amicus brief supporting a lawsuit by other advocacy groups challenging the action as a violation of…
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- Strengthening Democracy & Voting Rights
- Voting Rights – MS
Case
Disability Rights Mississippi, et al. v. Lynn Fitch, et al.
After Mississippi enacted a law that violates the right of residents with disabilities to receive voting assistance from the person of their choice, the Southern Poverty Law Center and its partners challenged the law in federal court. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Disability Rights Mississippi, the League of Women Voters of Mississippi and three…
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- Eliminating Poverty
Case
Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community Inc. v. School Board of Orange County, Fla.
When the school board in Orange County, Florida, planned to sell property that was the site of a historic school for Black children in one of the country’s oldest Black communities, a local preservation association represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center filed suit against the school board. The litigation by the Association to Preserve…
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- Ending Unjust Imprisonment
Case
Florida Immigration Coalition Inc., et al. v. Ronald D. DeSantis, et al.
During 2022, Florida established a “Relocation Program” for the “transport of unauthorized aliens from the state.” The Southern Poverty Law Center and its partners filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Section 185 of Florida’s 2022 General Appropriations Act, which created the $12 million program at the request of Gov. Ron DeSantis. The lawsuit, filed on…
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- Strengthening Democracy & Voting Rights
- Voting Rights – GA
Case
Crowell, et al., v. Cobb County Board of Elections & Registration, et al.
The Southern Poverty Law Center and its allies filed an emergency lawsuit to ensure that nearly 1,000 absentee voters in Cobb County, Georgia, have enough time to cast their votes in the 2022 midterm elections. The lawsuit, filed less than 48 hours before Election Day, seeks to send ballots overnight to each of the 1,000…
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- Ending Unjust Imprisonment
Case
ALEX A. v. EDWARDS
In July 2022, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced a plan to transfer dozens of incarcerated youths to the Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola. The facility is the nation’s largest and has a longstanding record of human rights violations. It housed some 5,000 adult men, the vast majority of them convicted of violent…
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- Dismantling White Supremacy
- LGBTQ Rights
Case
Cousins et al. v. The School Board of Orange County et al.
The state of Florida in 2022 enacted House Bill 1557, commonly referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which bans discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3 and restricts such discussions for students through grade 12 based on undefined standards of appropriateness. The law, which took effect July 1, 2022, also…
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- Strengthening Democracy & Voting Rights
- Voting Rights – AL
Case
Hudson v. Ivey
After a state commission moved a judgeship from a diverse Jefferson County community to majority-white Madison County, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the move. The lawsuit was filed by voting rights groups on behalf of Tiara Young Hudson, an attorney…
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- Strengthening Democracy & Voting Rights
- Voting Rights – AL
Case
Merrill v. Milligan
As a lawsuit challenging Alabama’s congressional district map went before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Southern Poverty Law Center and its partners submitted an amicus brief urging the court to affirm a lower court decision that found the map deprived Black Alabamians of their right to elect candidates of their choice to Congress. The amicus…