Improved Representation for Indigent Criminal Defendants in Georgia
Last month, a state-wide settlement in Georgia set new standards for the quantity and quality of state-provided counsel for indigent criminal defendants in new trial and appellate proceedings. Because of the litigation, a vast backlog of requests for counsel was cleared, and persons entitled to representation will no longer have to wait years for help.
Relevant case(s) include:
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Olmstead v. L.C. & E.W.
In this landmark case, brought in 1995 and concluded in 2001, persons unnecessarily confined to institutions for care relating to mental or intellectual disabilities won the right to state-funded community-based treatment options. The U.S. Supreme Court held that unjustified segregation in institutions constitutes illegal discrimination not only because it perpetuates unwarranted assumptions that people with disabilities are incapable or unworthy of participating in community life, but because confinement in an institution severely curtails everyday life activities, such as family relations, social contacts, work, educational advancement and cultural enrichment.
The Clearinghouse has collected the cases that were brought to implement this decision in each state at:
http://www.clearinghouse.net/results.php?searchSpecialCollection=7
Relevant case(s) include:
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Ebbert v. Nassau County
Late in 2011, a class of female employees of the Nassau County New York Police Department, represented by private counsel, settled their six-year litigation to enforce their right to equal pay and employment opportunities as their male counterparts. TOn December 22, 2011, the Court approved a class settlement in the amount of $7,000,000.00.
Although many equal employment cases are brought by the EEOC or the U.S. Department of Justice, many of these difficult and complex cases are litigated by private attorneys. You can find other private employment class actions in the Clearinghouse's special collection: http://www.clearinghouse.net/results.php?searchSpecialCollection=5
Relevant case(s) include:
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Strip Search Policy Upheld by Ninth Circuit. Reason for arrest immaterial.
In 2010, the Ninth Circuit found it reasonable that any new arrestee in the City and County of San Francisco may be strip searched by deputies regardless of why they were arrested. The Clearinghouse has a growing collection of cases involving the legality of strip searches. http://www.clearinghouse.net/results.php?searchSpecialCollection=4.
Relevant case(s) include:
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Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Even though this is the most famous civil rights case ever, the relevant litigation documents are not easy to come by. The Supreme Court decisions, in 1954 (announcing the rule that "separate is inherently unequal") and 1955 (announcing that remediation of Jim Crow school segregation could proceed "with all deliberate speed"), were obviously extraordinarily important, and are easily available. But the litigation in Topeka lasted from the filing of the first complaint in 1951 until final dismissal of the case in 1999. The Clearinghouse has copies of many of the crucial documents in the case.
Relevant case(s) include:
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