We stand in solidarity with Iraqis and all other people harmed by U.S. imperialism 

Twenty years after the U.S. government invaded Iraq, we renew our call for reparations for those harmed as a result of this unlawful act of aggression in its cruel, senseless, and baseless war-for-profit. Ten years ago, we teamed up with Iraqi civil society groups and U.S. service members to demand redress, and this need only becomes more urgent as the incalculable human toll of the war continues to grow: hundreds of thousands dead, some two million disabled, some nine million displaced, environmental devastation, countless people tortured, traumatized, or otherwise harmed in ways unseen, occupation, embrace of torture as policy in the so-called “war on terror,” and an entire generation born and raised in only war.

Continue reading on our website.

Marking the 10th anniversary of landmark "stop-and-frisk" trial 

Ten years ago this week, we embarked on a historic 9-week trial against the New York City police department for its racist and unconstitutional stop-and-frisk practices. On March 18, 2013, our team stepped into an overflowing courtroom, packed with New Yorkers: family members, community organizers, and many others seeking to hold the NYPD accountable for decades of abuse. Together with our partners at Communities United for Police Reform (CPR), who organized broad multi-faceted advocacy campaigns against the NYPD, the court remained filled each and every day of trial, as the judge heard powerful testimony from our clients Dasaw Floyd, Lalit Clarkson, David Ourlicht, Deon Dennis, and other courageous witnesses who had been directly harmed by stop-and-frisk. 

Throughout the trial we revealed the NYPD as an institution steeped in white supremacy, incompetence, mis-management, and an “ends justify the means” ethic. In what is now a historic ruling, in August 2013, we won a landmark decision that found the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk practices to be racially discriminatory and unconstitutional under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.

We’ve compiled resources from the trial here, including:

• Floyd Trial Blog: Daily updates and summaries from each day of the trial as it proceeded, written by CCR team members in the Court. 
• Trial Transcripts: Full transcripts of the entire trial.
• Floyd Case Page: Summary and key court filings in the case since it was filed in 2008.

For more information, visit our website.

Here are new resources to help activists access public information 

To mark Sunshine Week, we unveiled two new resources to help activists access public information through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and other queries. Created by our Open Records Project, which has compelled the release of millions of government documents, the tools build on its FOIA Basics for Activists toolkit. 

The first new resource, FYI! FOIA You Info, provides an annotated template for individuals to request records that government agencies might be keeping on them. The second, a Glomar appeal resource, offers ways to challenge the confusing and frustrating responses often given by agencies to FOIA requests.

Read more on our website.