Active Cases

Since 1966, CCR has pioneered daring and innovative legal strategies in pursuit of its mission to advance and protect the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Our work began on behalf of civil rights activists, and since then CCR has lent its expertise and support to virtually every popular progressive movement.

Our current cases reflects our unwavering commitment to progressive principles, people’s movements and human rights as well as our creative use of the law as a positive force for social change.

The Descendants Project v. St. John the Baptist Parish

On November 9, 2021, on behalf of The Descendants Project, an organization founded to advocate for descendants of people once enslaved in Louisiana’s river parishes, the Center for Constitutional...
Updated: April 2, 2025

Doe, et al. v. Nestlé USA, Inc./Cargill, Inc. (Amicus)

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Doe, et al. v. Nestlé USA, Inc . and the companion case Doe, et al. v. Cargill, Inc. to decide the question of whether U.S. corporations can be held liable under...
Updated: June 17, 2021

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Derek Lee

This case aims to end the state of Pennsylvania’s mandatory imposition of death-by-incarceration sentences, otherwise known as life without parole, for Derek Lee and others convicted of felony murder...
Updated: October 7, 2024

Aref v. Garland

A due process challenge to the Communications Management Units (CMUs), two highly restrictive federal prison units that segregate certain prisoners and severely limit and control their communication...
Updated: March 1, 2022

State v. Henry / State v. Allen (Jim Crow Juries)

Rufus Henry and Matthew Allen were both convicted of murder in the second degree by non-unanimous juries and sentenced to life in prison following trials in which they argued that they acted in self-...
Updated: January 17, 2025

Charles Watts v. United States

On November 9, 2021, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a motion for compassionate release in the Eastern District of New York on behalf of Charles Watts, a 51-year-old Black man who is...
Updated: January 5, 2023

Al Shimari, et al. v. CACI

A challenge to corporate impunity of private military contractors under the Alien Tort Statute for war crimes and torture at Abu Ghraib prison.
Updated: May 15, 2025

Doe v. Cisco Systems, Inc. (Amicus)

ATS case bringing claims that U.S. technology company Cisco Systems, Inc. aided and abetted serious human rights abuses against Falun Gong practitioners in China
Updated: January 13, 2016

Ortiz v. Orange County, N.Y.

Ortiz et al. v. Orange County, NY et al. is a federal lawsuit against Orange County in New York, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and county officials for their punitive retaliation...
Updated: July 10, 2025

Archilla v. Witte

Archilla v. Witte is a federal lawsuit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials on behalf of 18 medically vulnerable people currently held in ICE’s Etowah Detention Center in...
Updated: March 7, 2023

White Hat v. Murrill

In 2018, the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association (LMOGA) drafted and proposed an amendment to Louisiana’s Critical Infrastructure law, which was passed by the legislature, that is so...
Updated: June 24, 2025

Ashker v. Governor of California

A federal class action lawsuit challenging prolonged solitary confinement as cruel and unusual punishment.
Updated: November 15, 2024

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