An extremist Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade 

Things that are inevitable may still be shocking. We are reeling from this Supreme Court’s retrograde decision in Dobbs v. Whole Women’s Health – from its arrogant dismissal of universally recognized principles of bodily autonomy, self-determination, and equality; its lawless disregard for generationally settled expectations of millions of people who order their lives around the freedom to access full reproductive healthcare, including abortion; and to the opinion’s broader authoritarian premises. We fear what it portends concretely for people who can become pregnant – particularly poor and Black and Brown people – trans people for whom state legislatures have increasingly sought to control and degrade, and for broader constitutional principles of equality and human dignity so wantonly threatened by this Court’s cruel, unchecked regressiveness. We are grieving what was lost and what is to come.

Read more on our website.

The Descendants Project takes Rep. Grijalva on tour highlighting environmental injustice in river parishes 

The Descendants Project, an organization that advocates for descendants of enslaved people, took Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ) on a tour of river parishes long imperiled by environmental racism. Rep. Grijalva, chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, visited communities and cultural landmarks under threat from industrialization and heard from local leaders working to combat environmental injustice. 

Rep. Grijalva (TX) is spending Juneteenth weekend in the area on the invitation of Jo and Joy Banner, co-founders of The Descendants Project. The visit is part of a nationwide community-input process for the Environmental Justice For All Act. Introduced in the House by Grijalva and Reps. Donald McEachin (VA) and Tammy Duckworth (IL), the legislation is an ambitious attempt to remedy the kinds of injustice prevalent in Cancer Alley, where numerous factories endanger the health of the largely Black population. 

Learn more on our website.

For Juneteenth, Rep. Raul Grijalva joins Descendants Project at land blessing honoring enslaved ancestors 

To commemorate Juneteenth, Representative Raul Grijalva (AZ), a national leader on environmental justice, attended a land blessing in Wallace, Louisiana honoring enslaved people buried on the site of a proposed grain terminal. The ceremony was hosted by the Descendants Project, which is challenging an illegal, decades-old rezoning ordinance in an effort to prevent construction of the terminal, which poses a grave danger to both the health of residents and the bodies of their ancestors. 

Rep. Grijalva is spending the weekend touring Louisiana's river parishes on the invitation of Jo and Joy Banner, co-founders and co-directors of the Descendants Project. The visit is part of a community-input process for the Environmental Justice For All Act. Introduced in the House by Rep. Grijalva and Reps. Donald McEachin (VA) and Tammy Duckworth (IL), the legislation is an ambitious attempt to remedy the kinds of injustice prevalent in Cancer Alley, where numerous factories endanger the health of the largely Black population. 

The land blessing underscored the fact that environmental racism threatens to deprive black and indigenous communities of not only their futures but also their histories.

“Our people have been here for hundreds of years,” said Chief August Creppel of United Houma Nation. “They’ve been fighting the same fight. But the local government, the state government, and the federal government, they ignore us. They know who we are when they want to get into office, but after that, they forget about us. So I always tell my people. We have to be seen and we have to be heard, or we’re forgotten about. This is not our past, this is our history; these are our people’s bones. It might not mean something to them, but it means something to us.” 

For more information about the land blessing and the ongoing work for environmental justice in Louisiana, visit our website.

Our client Ashley Diamond wins Association of LGBTQ Journalists award for op-ed detailing abuse in Georgia prisons 

Recently our client Ashley Diamond, plaintiff in our case Diamond v. Ward, et al., was honored with the Excellence in Opinion/Editorial Writing Award from The Association of LGBTQ Journalists for last year's article published in them magazine, "I’m a Trans Woman Locked in a Men’s Prison. I’m Fighting to Be Free." 

In the op-ed, she describes the unconstitutional treatment to which she’s reportedly been subjected within the Georgia Department of Corrections. Diamond, who has filed a lawsuit alleging that she's been sexually assaulted and abused in a men’s prison, says she will keep fighting for her freedom and the liberation of all incarcerated trans people. 

In the piece she writes:

Standing up for my community is hard — our society devalues and discards Black trans women — and the people who have power over my life punish me for speaking out. But with all the threats and injustices facing trans people, and especially trans people of color right now, we have no choice but to fight.

Congratulations to Ashley Diamond, whose fight continues to this day. Read the op-ed on them magazine’s website.

Jean Entine, Presente! 

Jean Entine, devoted Center for Constitutional Rights board member and chair of its Development Committee, died on May 17, 2022, from complications of hypertension and cerebral amyloid angiopathy. She was 79 years old.

As a Southern Jew from Memphis, Tennessee, Jean spent a lifetime committed to many social justice movements. This put her at odds with many who shared her Southern roots. Her Judaism also made her an outsider among privileged whites in Memphis. Early experiences with antisemitism seemed to have cemented her commitment to justice and opposition to oppression. She used her privilege and wealth to make a difference, individually and institutionally. She was the former executive director of the Boston Women’s Fund and Women for Economic Justice, a program officer for The Boston Foundation, and a consultant to a host of organizations. Jean was a woman who walked the talk. 

A memorial is in the works for her. An informal Zoom memorial is scheduled for July 7th, 5:00 Pacific and 8:00 Eastern. 

For more information and to learn more about Entine’s lifelong work and impact, stop by her memorial on our website.

Give today, and double the impact of your gift! 

Thanks to our dear friend Katherine Franke, all new and increased gifts to the MICHAEL RATNER CAMPAIGN FOR THE NEXT GENERATION will be matched. Give today and deepen our capacity as the go-to partner of social justice movements, enable us to spend more time on the ground with our partners, and allow us to recruit, mentor, and train young movement lawyers and advocates!

Visit Michael Ratner Campaign for the Next Generation page on our website and donate today.