@ccrcj.bsky.social
The Center for Civil Rights and Critical Justice works to achieve a legal system where both historical and present-day racism, oppression, and marginalization no longer control outcomes or otherwise contribute to inequality.
But there's still work to do in the courts. The crime of prison riot is still on the books--and it's now subject to a constitutional challenge. Also on Friday, our Clinic filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Center for Civil Rights and Critical Justice supporting the constitutional challenge.
Signed into law on Friday, House Bill 1815 prevents prison riot from being charged in juvenile prisons and gives retroactive relief to youth who are serving harsh sentences imposed under the prison riot statute--which often means having to transfer to adult prisons to do the time.
Did you know that Washington's prison riot statute is being weaponized against youth of color at overcrowded, mismanaged juvenile prisons? Last semester and this semester, students in our Civil Rights Clinic have been working to undo this harm, in both the legislature and in the courts.
Our brief reminds the Ninth Circuit of our country's problematic history of citizenship stripping, warns the court about the potential for this EO to be used retroactively, and highlights the lived experience of growing up without status.
We are proud to co-counsel this brief with Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) and the @Korematsu Center for Law and Equality. We are proud to represent a diverse group of amici from 82 nonprofit and grassroots organizations and race and law centers around the country.
The Center for Civil Rights and Critical Justice at Seattle University School of Law submitted an amicus brief this morning in support of WA Attorney General Nick Brown's challenge to the EO seeking to rewrite the Constitution on Birthright Citizenship.
Read the brief here: lnkd.in/gdG9sM2R
The Center for Civil Rights and Critical Justice hosted a panel discussion of race and capital punishment, framed by Trump's Executive Order "Restoring the Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety." We covered racial dynamics of juries and the use of state constitutions to chart a different path.
What's going on with public defense caseload standards in Washington? Professor Bob Boruchowitz, who leads The Defender Initiative at the Center for Civil Rights and Critical Justice, urges the Washington Supreme Court to adopt the Revised Standards for Indigent Defense www.kcba.org?pg=News-Bar-...
The Civil Rights Clinic (a project of the Center for Civil Rights and Critical Justice at Seattle University School of Law) recently secured release for two clients previously serving life without parole sentences!