What We Do
Each lawsuit we file is centered on the people and communities most harmed by the punishment bureaucracy and the multibillion dollar industries that profit from it.
We are tireless in our pursuit of justice and fearless in enforcing constitutional rights.
Building Power for New Visions of Safety
We help build power in communities most harmed by injustices, challenging systems and narratives and building new visions of safety. Every victory, small and large, can be a vital part of a long-term social movement that transforms systems of and assumptions about human caging, racial and economic control, surveillance, profiteering, and punishment.
100 +
Cases filed in 20 states
100000 +
People
freed from being jailed for poverty
$ 100000000 +
Returned to communities
most impacted by the injustices in the criminal system.
1000 +
Lawyers and Judges
trained on constitutional, safe, and effective policies.
16
Artists in Residence
have produced creative projects highlighting CRC’s work
News & Updates
Issues
Civil Rights Corps works with individuals accused and convicted of crimes, their families and communities, people currently or formerly incarcerated, activists, organizers, judges, and government officials to challenge mass human caging, dismantle white supremacy, and create a legal system that promotes equality and freedom.
Ending the Criminalization of Poverty
Breaking the cycle of harm by dismantling the criminal system that punishes people for poverty.
Accountability: Police, Prosecutors and Judges
Holding powerful system actors accountable for harm.
ending family separation
Using innovative strategies to effectively intervene in the legal systems that separate families.
Advocacy
Our work focuses on Identifying advocates who share our goals and vision to advance local and federal policies to create non-carceral community safety models.
Our Work
Our criminal legal system is an assembly line that normalizes punishment and uses the mass processing of criminal cases to generate revenue on the backs of the poorest people in our society. Our work has freed tens of thousands of people from jail cells, helped to elevate the issue of money bail into the popular consciousness, and is setting precedent that will forever change the legal system in the United States.
Challenging the Riverside County Bail Process
Sandoval v. Riverside. In May 2025, individuals detained in Riverside County jails filed a class action lawsuit challenging Riverside…
Challenging probation detainer practices in Allegheny County
Horton v. Rangos. In 2022, we filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of individuals detained at Allegheny County…
Holding Houston Police Accountable for Alleged Attack on a Disabled Black Man
Holland v. Otero. On January 29, 2025, Civil Rights Corps filed a lawsuit against 6 Houston Police Department officers…
Challenging pretrial detention practices in Oregon
In partnership with public defenders in Oregon, Civil Rights Corps is challenging Oregon’s longstanding practices of jailing people charged…
Defending the First Amendment Right to Observe Dependency Court in Durham County
Civil Rights Corps v. Walker. In November 2024, Civil Right Corps filed a lawsuit asking the federal court to…
Fighting for Transparency in the Prosecutorial Misconduct Complaint Process in New York
Civil Rights Corps v. LaSalle. In response to the filing of the first Accountability NY complaints in 2021, NYC…
Holding Judges Accountable in San Mateo County
Civil Rights Corps worked with an amazing group of organizers at Silicon Valley De-Bug and law professor Lara Bazelon…
Challenging Police Brutality at a Protest Outside the DNC Building in D.C.
Rise v. Bagshaw. In 2024, Civil Rights Corps filed a landmark lawsuit challenging alleged police brutality in Washington, DC,…
Holding Houston Police Accountable for Alleged K9 Attack on Black Motorist
McWashington v. Rodgers. Mr. McWashington, a Black man, was pulled over for slow rolling through stop signs in Houston….
Holding Harris County Constables Accountable for Alleged Unlawful Entry Into Wrong Family’s Home
Harrington v. Lancaster. In January 2024, Civil Rights Corps filed a federal lawsuit against three members of the Harris…
Defending a child’s Right to Hug their parents in Flint
S.L v Swanson. In 2024, we filed a lawsuit on behalf of a group of children and parents in…
Defending a child’s Right to Hug their parents in Port Huron
M.M. v. King. In 2024, we filed a lawsuit on behalf of a group of children and parents in…
Holding D.C. Police Accountable for Alleged Unlawful Arrest of a Mom and her Minor Daughter
Lewis v. District of Columbia. Our lawsuit alleges that, on two separate occasions, Malaika Lewis and her minor daughter,…
Holding Houston Police Accountable for Alleged Hogtying and Racial Profiling of Hispanic Man
Ramos v Erwin. In 2023, Civil Rights Corps filed a lawsuit against 5 Houston Police Department officers on behalf…
Holding Harris County Deputies Accountable for Alleged Brutal K9 Attack of Unarmed Black Man
Thomas v. Bruss. In February 2023, Civil Rights Corps brought suit on behalf of Kerry Lee Thomas against three…
Challenging Pretrial Detention Practices in Maryland
Butler v. Prince George’s County. In 2022, CRC and partners filed a class action lawsuit challenging Prince George’s County’s…
Holding D.C. Police Accountable for Alleged Unlawful Seizure, Arrest, and Excessive Force
Millet v District of Columbia. In March of 2023, CRC brought suit on behalf of David Millet against the…
Holding D.C. Police Accountable for Alleged False Arrest, Assault, and Imprisonment of District Resident
Jackson v. District of Columbia. In 2023, we filed a lawsuit against the District of Columbia and two Metropolitan…
Challenging the Los Angeles Bail Schedule
Urquidi v. City of Los Angeles. CRC and co-counsel brought suit in California Superior Court in November 2022 on…
Accountability New York
Prosecutors are some of the most powerful lawyers and are only rarely held accountable for professional misconduct. In New…
Challenging Debtors’ Prison Practices in Oklahoma
Graff v. Aberdeen Enterprizes II, Inc. On November 2, 2017, Civil Rights Corps, the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and…
Ending the Fee-based Diversion Program in Maricopa County
Briggs v. Montgomery. In 2018, we filed a lawsuit against Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery and Treatment Assessment Screening…
Challenging the Money Bail System in Tulsa County
Feltz v. Regalado. In 2018, Civil Rights Corps filed a lawsuit challenging Tulsa County’s unconstitutional wealth-based pretrial detention system….
Challenging the Money Bail Practices in Cullman County
Hester v. Gentry. In 2018, Civil Rights Corps and partners filed a lawsuit alleging that hundreds of people in…
Challenging Debtors’ Prison Practices in Ferguson
Fant v. City of Ferguson. In 2015, we filed a landmark challenge to the City of Ferguson’s conversion of…
Challenging the money bail system in Cook County
Robinson v. Martin. Civil Rights Corps filed a historic challenge to the unconstitutional money bail system in Cook County,…
Challenging the money bail system in Randolph County
Edwards v. Cofield. In 2017, Civil Rights Corps and partners filed a putative class-action lawsuit alleging that the money…
Challenging Money Bail Practices in Calhoun
Walker v. City of Calhoun. In 2015, Civil Rights Corps and the Southern Center for Human Rights filed a…
Challenging For-Profit Probation Scheme in Rutherford County
Rodriguez v. Providence Community Corrections. In September 2017, Civil Rights Corps announced a landmark settlement in a first-of-its-kind class…
Challenging the Money Bail System in Alamance County
Guill v. Allen. In November 2019, CRC filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three people locked in jail…
Challenging For-Profit Probation Scheme in Giles County
McNeil v. Community Probation Services. In 2018, five named plaintiffs sued Giles County, TN and two private probation companies…
Striking Down the Money Bail System in Louisiana
Caliste v. Cantrell. In 2017, Civil Rights Corps filed a landmark federal class action lawsuit challenging the unconstitutional money…
COVID-19: Fighting for Release & Better Conditions for People Detained in Cook County Jail
Mays v. Dart. In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S., many of us protected ourselves by isolating…
COVID-19: Fighting for Release & Better Conditions for People Detained in Oakland County Jail, Michigan
Cameron v. Bouchard. In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S., many of us protected ourselves by isolating…
Challenging Money Bail Practices in Nevada
Valdez-Jimenez v. Eighth Judicial District Court. Working closely with the Clark County Public Defender’s Office, Civil Rights Corps challenged…
COVID-19: Fighting for Release & Better Conditions for People Detained in Prince George’s County Jail
Seth v. McDonough. In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S., many of us protected ourselves by isolating…
Challenging pretrial detention in Houston & Harris County
Hernandez v. City of Houston & Lomas v. Harris County. In 2016, Civil Rights Corps filed two class-action lawsuits…
Holding DC Police Accountable for Alleged Unconstitutional Search Warrant Practices
Between 2014 and 2015 we filed multiple lawsuits against the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in Washington, DC that alleged…
Dismantling Debtors’ Prisons in New Orleans
Cain v. City of New Orleans. In Louisiana, the judges who order and collect fines and fees from impoverished…
Protecting a Public Defenders’ First Amendment Rights in Montgomery County, PA
Hudson v. Montgomery County. In early February 2020, Plaintiff Keisha Hudson, who was then Deputy Chief Public Defender for…
Challenging the money bail system in Harris County
ODonnell v. Harris County. In 2016, a single mom of two girls who was arrested for driving on a…
Challenging the Money Bail System in Hamblen County
Torres v. Collins. We filed a major constitutional civil rights case alleging that the Hamblen County money bail system…
Holding Prosecutors Accountable for Illegal Practices in Orleans Parish
Singleton v. Cannizzaro. Our lawsuit sought to end the unconstitutional deception and jailing of crime victims and witnesses by…
Striking Down the Money Bail System in California
Humphrey. In partnership with the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, Civil Rights Corps has filed and won numerous state…
Striking Down Unfair Bail Rules in Davidson County Criminal Court
Nashville Community Bail Fund (NCBF) v. Gentry. NCBF is a nonprofit that works to free people who are being…
Challenging the Money Bail & Pretrial Detention System in St. Louis
Dixon v. City of St. Louis. In 2019, Civil Rights Corps and partners brought a landmark challenge to the…
Challenging Debtors’ Prison Practices in Jennings
Jenkins v. City of Jennings. In 2016, Civil Rights Corps, in partnership with ArchCity Defenders and the Saint Louis…
Get the latest Updates
We’re hiring summer 2026 litigation interns! Learn more about the internship and how to apply in the link in our bio.
We’re hiring summer 2026 litigation interns! Learn more about the internship and how to apply in the link in our bio.
How can we reclaim the media narrative around the child welfare system, and discuss real safety options for families?
Join us on Aug 20th to talk about how to break through the media noise, pitch news stories, and brainstorm new ideas that share the vision of community.
🗓️ Aug 20th
⏰ 6-7:30 PM
📍424 S Pulaski St, Baltimore
🔗 RSVP here: bit.ly/mediawrkshp
(link in bio)
How can we reclaim the media narrative around the child welfare system, and discuss real safety options for families?
Join us on Aug 20th to talk about how to break through the media noise, pitch news stories, and brainstorm new ideas that share the vision of community.
🗓️ Aug 20th
⏰ 6-7:30 PM
📍424 S Pulaski St, Baltimore
🔗 RSVP here: bit.ly/mediawrkshp
(link in bio)
Meet our 2025 Artists-in-residence – April Lee, Kenneth Webb, and William Anderson!
Learn more about our current and former artists- and poets-in-residence here: civilrightscorps.org/artists-in-residence
Meet our 2025 Artists-in-residence – April Lee, Kenneth Webb, and William Anderson!
Learn more about our current and former artists- and poets-in-residence here: civilrightscorps.org/artists-in-residence
✨CRC is hiring!
We’re hiring an externallly funded legal fellow to start in Fall 2025.
Learn more on our website 👉🏽 civilrightscorps.org/join-our-team
🔗 link in bio
✨CRC is hiring!
We’re hiring an externallly funded legal fellow to start in Fall 2025.
Learn more on our website 👉🏽 civilrightscorps.org/join-our-team
🔗 link in bio
BREAKING: The FCC just delayed the implementation of new regulations that would save families impacted by incarceration more than $500 million per year. It’s time to fight back. Repost @worthrises, follow them for more.
BREAKING: The FCC just delayed the implementation of new regulations that would save families impacted by incarceration more than $500 million per year. It’s time to fight back. Repost @worthrises, follow them for more.
🔔 CASE UPDATE: The Third Circuit has allowed our lawsuit, challenging Allegheny County’s practice of jailing people on probation without due process, to partially move forward.
Probation detainers are the single largest driver of incarceration at the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh, accounting for ONE THIRD of the local jail population on any given day (around 600 people at the time of filing in 2022).
Our lawsuit alleges that Allegheny County’s pervasive jailing of people on probation before their revocation hearing violates their constitutional right to due process under the 14th Amendment.
🔔 CASE UPDATE: The Third Circuit has allowed our lawsuit, challenging Allegheny County’s practice of jailing people on probation without due process, to partially move forward.
Probation detainers are the single largest driver of incarceration at the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh, accounting for ONE THIRD of the local jail population on any given day (around 600 people at the time of filing in 2022).
Our lawsuit alleges that Allegheny County’s pervasive jailing of people on probation before their revocation hearing violates their constitutional right to due process under the 14th Amendment.
NEW CASE: Faith leaders, detained people, and civil rights groups filed a lawsuit challenging Riverside County`s Bail Process. Swipe to learn more 👉🏽
What: Lawsuit
Where: Riverside County, CA
Issue: Bail, Pretrial Detention
The lawsuit alleges that legally innocent people in Riverside County are routinely jailed solely because they cannot afford to buy their freedom by paying the preset cash bail amount. The lawsuit also alleges that people arrested in Riverside are systematically denied their constitutional right to a prompt hearing – often being jailed up to five, sometimes six, days without a hearing.
Read more in @pressenterprise and @latimes. Links in bio.
—
Plaintiffs are represented by Civil Rights Corps, Public Justice, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Hadsell Stormer Renick & Dai LLP, Prison Law Office, and Schonbrun Seplow Harris Hoffman & Zeldes, LLP.
NEW CASE: Faith leaders, detained people, and civil rights groups filed a lawsuit challenging Riverside County`s Bail Process. Swipe to learn more 👉🏽
What: Lawsuit
Where: Riverside County, CA
Issue: Bail, Pretrial Detention
The lawsuit alleges that legally innocent people in Riverside County are routinely jailed solely because they cannot afford to buy their freedom by paying the preset cash bail amount. The lawsuit also alleges that people arrested in Riverside are systematically denied their constitutional right to a prompt hearing – often being jailed up to five, sometimes six, days without a hearing.
Read more in @pressenterprise and @latimes. Links in bio.
—
Plaintiffs are represented by Civil Rights Corps, Public Justice, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Hadsell Stormer Renick & Dai LLP, Prison Law Office, and Schonbrun Seplow Harris Hoffman & Zeldes, LLP.
Check out this new op-ed by Mashai Small in @afronews: "From trauma to advocacy, a Black mother`s mission to end family policing."
Mashai Small is a mother, doula and abolitionist committed to exposing the harsh realities of the family policing system.
Link to the op-ed in bio.
Check out this new op-ed by Mashai Small in @afronews: "From trauma to advocacy, a Black mother`s mission to end family policing."
Mashai Small is a mother, doula and abolitionist committed to exposing the harsh realities of the family policing system.
Link to the op-ed in bio.
The fourth annual #BlackMothersMarch is just THREE DAYS away!
@BlackMothersMarch brings together families, organizers, and co-conspirators in solidarity against the family policing system.
🖤 Black Mothers March
🗓️ May 11th
⏰ 11 AM
📍Lafayette Park
Other BMM events this weekend:
🖤 Community Teach-in
🗓️ May 10th
⏰ 10 AM – 3:30 PM
📍Arlington Court Suites
1200 N Courthouse Rd, Arlington, VA
🖤 Mommy & Me Sneaker Ball
🗓️ May 10th
⏰ 6-9 PM
📍Creative Suitland Arts Center
4719 Silver Hill Rd, Suitland, MD
🖤 Black Love Rooted in Resistance Art Exhibition
🗓️ May 9th, 12-6 PM
🗓️ May 10th, 12-6 PM
🗓️ May 11th, 3-8 PM
📍 Black Workers Center
2500 MLK Jr Ave SE
🔗All RSVP links in bio.
The fourth annual #BlackMothersMarch is just THREE DAYS away!
@BlackMothersMarch brings together families, organizers, and co-conspirators in solidarity against the family policing system.
🖤 Black Mothers March
🗓️ May 11th
⏰ 11 AM
📍Lafayette Park
Other BMM events this weekend:
🖤 Community Teach-in
🗓️ May 10th
⏰ 10 AM – 3:30 PM
📍Arlington Court Suites
1200 N Courthouse Rd, Arlington, VA
🖤 Mommy & Me Sneaker Ball
🗓️ May 10th
⏰ 6-9 PM
📍Creative Suitland Arts Center
4719 Silver Hill Rd, Suitland, MD
🖤 Black Love Rooted in Resistance Art Exhibition
🗓️ May 9th, 12-6 PM
🗓️ May 10th, 12-6 PM
🗓️ May 11th, 3-8 PM
📍 Black Workers Center
2500 MLK Jr Ave SE
🔗All RSVP links in bio.
It’s almost time for the fourth annual #BlackMothersMarch and weekend of events!
Led by a national coalition of Black women-led organizations, the @BlackMothersMarch brings together families, organizers, and co-conspirators in solidarity against the family policing system.
Join the BMM for a weekend of events this Mother`s Day! 🔗All RSVP links in bio.
🖤 Black Mothers March
🗓️ May 11th
⏰ 11 AM
📍Lafayette Park
🖤 Community Teach-in
🗓️ May 10th
⏰ 10 AM – 3:30 PM
📍Arlington Court Suites
1200 N Courthouse Rd, Arlington, VA
🖤 Mommy & Me Sneaker Ball
🗓️ May 10th
⏰ 6-9 PM
📍Creative Suitland Arts Center
4719 Silver Hill Rd, Suitland, MD
🖤 Black Love Rooted in Resistance Art Exhibition
🗓️ May 9th, 12-6 PM
🗓️ May 10th, 12-6 PM
🗓️ May 11th, 3-8 PM
📍 Black Workers Center
2500 MLK Jr Ave SE
It’s almost time for the fourth annual #BlackMothersMarch and weekend of events!
Led by a national coalition of Black women-led organizations, the @BlackMothersMarch brings together families, organizers, and co-conspirators in solidarity against the family policing system.
Join the BMM for a weekend of events this Mother`s Day! 🔗All RSVP links in bio.
🖤 Black Mothers March
🗓️ May 11th
⏰ 11 AM
📍Lafayette Park
🖤 Community Teach-in
🗓️ May 10th
⏰ 10 AM – 3:30 PM
📍Arlington Court Suites
1200 N Courthouse Rd, Arlington, VA
🖤 Mommy & Me Sneaker Ball
🗓️ May 10th
⏰ 6-9 PM
📍Creative Suitland Arts Center
4719 Silver Hill Rd, Suitland, MD
🖤 Black Love Rooted in Resistance Art Exhibition
🗓️ May 9th, 12-6 PM
🗓️ May 10th, 12-6 PM
🗓️ May 11th, 3-8 PM
📍 Black Workers Center
2500 MLK Jr Ave SE
📖 OUT TODAY: CRC founder @equalityalec’s book on Copaganda.
“Alec Karakatsanis exposes our criminal injustice system for what it is: a bureaucracy of punishment, propped up by a biased media machine that feeds mass incarceration. After Copaganda, you’ll never read the news the same way again.” – Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow
🔗 link in bio
📖 OUT TODAY: CRC founder @equalityalec’s book on Copaganda.
“Alec Karakatsanis exposes our criminal injustice system for what it is: a bureaucracy of punishment, propped up by a biased media machine that feeds mass incarceration. After Copaganda, you’ll never read the news the same way again.” – Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow
🔗 link in bio
diversion for me, but not for thee 🤔
🔗 links in bio