Muslim, Arab, South Asian men rounded up and abused after 9/11 continue fight for day in court 

Twenty years later, men who were religiously and racially profiled seek damages from the warden who allowed abuse.

A group of Muslim, Arab, and South Asian men rounded up after 9/11 are seeking money damages from a warden they say allowed and encouraged abuse and discrimination by guards under his supervision. Their case has been to the Supreme Court and back. Today, lawyers from the Center for Constitutional Rights appealed a district court ruling on their behalf.

“The Supreme Court has already allowed the most powerful people responsible for my treatment to evade accountability,” said Benamar Benatta. “If the courts let prison officials off the hook as well, I will have waited twenty years for no justice at all. Those in power will be free not only to profile people based on religion and race, but to assault and torment people while they are held.”

Learn more about this case on our website.

Court rules groups may pursue lawsuit against Arizona lawmakers who attended secretive corporate-led legislation meetings 

The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that a coalition of grassroots organizations and legal groups may pursue their lawsuit against 26 Arizona lawmakers who attended closed meetings of the corporate-led American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The court said the legislature cannot exempt itself from its own Open Meeting Law, rejected all of the defendants’ other arguments for dismissal, and sent the case back to the trial court.

The suit was filed in 2019 by Puente, Mijente, Arizona Palestine Solidarity Alliance, Black Lives Matter Phoenix Metro, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the People's Law Firm. Prior to ALEC’s national policy summit in Scottsdale, AZ, these groups asked the court to declare the legislators’ attendance unlawful, arguing that because the 26 lawmakers composed quorums of committees, the closed-door deliberations and drafting of laws amounted to secret decision-making by a public body, in violation of the state’s Open Meeting Law. The suit further asks for all notes and materials from the meetings to be made accessible to the public and for legislators to be enjoined from attending these meetings in the future.

“Today's victory confirms what communities have been saying for years – these corporate lawmakers must follow the law and let people enter the rooms when people are making decisions about the future of our lives,” said Jacinta Gonzalez, senior campaign organizer at Mijente. “ALEC has continuously caused tremendous harm to many communities – lawmakers should be on notice that the days when they can make backdoor deals without us knowing are done.”

For more information on this case, visit our website.

Join us for “For the Love of Rage: The Power of Rage in Pursuit of Black Liberation” 

As lawyers and advocates who are accountable to the intergenerational Black freedom struggle, the Center for Constitutional Rights has pushed for Black people to reject the inhumanity of human hierarchy, express love-fueled fury, and demand fundamental change. The state and its institutions, viewing Black freedom as a threat to the status quo of white supremacy, have used violence, incarceration, surveillance, and systemic abandonment in an attempt to suppress Black rage and any alternative vision of a world repaired.

Join the Center of Constitutional Rights on Monday February 28, 2022, at 5 p.m. ET for our keynote 2022 Black History Month event, “For the Love of Rage: The Power of Rage in Pursuit of Black Liberation.”

Center for Constitutional Rights Board Members, representatives from the Dream Defenders, and community healers will have a special conversation sourcing Black rage as an expression of love for the community’s past, present, and future.

Speakers:
Colette Pichon Battle, Executive Director of the Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy (GCCLP)
Tanisha “Wakumi” Douglas, MSW, Founding Executive Director, Senior Trainer of S.O.U.L Sisters Leadership Collective
Dr. Armen Henderson, Director of Health Programs, Dream Defenders
Moderated by Vince Warren, Executive Director, Center for Constitutional Rights

For more information and to RSVP, visit our website.

We’re hiring! Facilities and Office Services Manager 

The Facilities and Office Services Manager, under the direction of the Director of Operations (DO), has primary responsibility for day-to-day oversight of facilities and office services, and for the range of duties enumerated on our website to ensure the safe and efficient functioning of the organization.

The physical plant comprises two floors, owned by the Center for Constitutional Rights, in a medium-size commercial condominium building in Manhattan. Given both organizational growth in size, and the growing proportion of staff working remotely either full or part-time, we anticipate embarking on a major renovation project within the next year or two.

To learn more about duties, salary, and how to apply, head to our website. The application deadline is March 11.