Mississippi’s anti-sodomy law found unconstitutional! 

On Tuesday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit confirmed that Mississippi’s anti-sodomy law is unconstitutional, bringing the state into line with the Supreme Court’s landmark 2003 ruling in Lawrence v. Texas. Two decades after that decision, Mississippi continues to enforce its “Unnatural Intercourse” law by requiring people convicted under it to register as sex offenders. Represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights and co-counsel, a group of them brought a class action suit challenging the law in 2016. 

“Today’s ruling confirms what we’ve been saying for years: Mississippi can no longer cling to its homophobic, antiquated law,” said our co-counsel, Matthew Strugar. “It is unconstitutional and has been for two decades. Enough is enough.”

Read more on our website.

Southern Justice Rising!  

We've launched a new hub for  one of our latest initiatives, Southern Justice Rising, the Center for Constitutional Rights' deepened, renewed commitment to liberatory movements in the South. Through Southern Justice Rising, we aim to strengthen the defense of our Southern partners, support the advancement of movement goals, and amplify stories of resistance and righteous pursuit of Justice. 

Check out the new page on our website.

TOMORROW: Guantanamo's Legacy: Torture and the Law 

Tomorrow, join us for a panel discussion at the New York University Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies on Lisa Hajjar's new book, "The War in Court," with our Legal Director Baher Azmy and Margaret Satterthwaite, Professor of Clinical Law, Faculty Director of the Robert L. Bernstein Institute for Human Rights, Faculty Director of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, and the Director of the Global Justice at NYU School of Law.

The event takes place tomorrow, April 18, at 5:30 p.m., at the Kevorkian Center Library, New York University.

RSVP is required. Please register at this Google Form.

WEDNESDAY: Powerlands – A Freedom Flicks Screening 

Wednesday, April 19, 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., join us for a screening of the documentary Powerlands, followed by a conversation with the film’s director, Ivey-Camille Manybeads Tso and our Advocacy Director Nadia Ben-Youssef, about Indigenous resistance to environmental extraction by chemical companies.

Location
The People’s Forum
320 West 37th Street
New York, NY 10018

In Powerlands, Ivey-Camille Manybeads Tso, a young Navajo filmmaker, follows the trail of extractive industries that have exploited the land where she was born. On this personal and political journey she learns from Indigenous activists across three continents: she travels to the La Guajira region in rural Colombia, the Tampakan region of the Philippines, the Tehuantepec Isthmus of Mexico, and the protests at Standing Rock. In each case, she meets Indigenous women leading the struggle against the same corporations that are causing displacement and environmental catastrophe in her own home. Inspired by these activists, Ivey-Camille brings home the lessons from these struggles to the Navajo Nation. 

Watch the trailer here.

This event is free, but please register to secure your spot. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m., and the program will begin at 6:00 p.m. Proof of vaccination is required for all attendees, and masks are encouraged.