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$500 Fine Imposed on Homeless Man Shows Why We Need the Excessive Fines Clause
Public Justice urges Washington Supreme Court to strike down unconstitutional fine By John He, Debtors’ Prison Project Skadden Fellow Last week, Public Justice’s Debtors’ Prison Project filed a friend-of-the-court brief in City of Seattle v. Long, an important case pending before the Washington Supreme Court…
Blog
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Put an End to Fine Print Bullying: Urge Congress to Pass the FAIR Act
By Karla Gilbride Cartwright-Baron Senior Attorney What Leo Tolstoy said in Anna Karenina about unhappy families could also be said about consumer transactions or employment relationships that turn sour: each one “is unhappy in its own way.” For some types of disputes, a worker or consumer may…
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Chamber Affiliate Recycles Flawed Methodology to Defend Forced Arbitration for Consumers
In 2019, Congress held hearings on the FAIR Act, a bill that would make it illegal to force employment, consumer, antitrust and civil rights disputes into arbitration. The Institute for Legal Reform, an affiliate of the nation’s chief big business lobby – the U.S. Chamber of Commerce – tried to influence that legislative debate with a report claiming that arbitration is actually better for workers than going to court.
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Firing Kathy Kraninger Must Be Part of President-Elect Biden’s Economic Agenda
By Paul Bland Executive Director It is no accident that many of President-Elect Biden’s first personnel announcements have been key appointments aimed at strengthening the country’s economy. Biden is sending a clear message that important “pocket book issues” will be a central part of his…
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McConnell’s Latest Corporate Immunity Proposals Are A Direct Sabotage To Our Democracy
By Lucy Sears Communications Associate With less than two weeks until the new year, it appears that Congress has finally settled on a $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill, following many months of negotiations that were largely attributed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s continued refusal…
November 7, 2020
In Blog
New Steps of Change
America has come through four years of corruption and cronyism, a devastating campaign of deregulation that has harmed our environment, endangered workers and undermined our consumer protection laws, bungled crises and an all-out assault on civil rights. All of us at Public Justice are committed to helping President-Elect Biden, Vice President-Elect Harris and Congressional leaders chart a new course forward and get our nation back on track.
November 4, 2020
In Blog
Every Voice Matters. Every Vote Must Count.
Across Public Justice’s work, one fundamental principle guides us: Every voice matters, every community deserves to be heard and no one should be stripped of their political or legal rights.
Arbitration Providers Must Take Action on Diversity and Accessibility
By Ellen Noble Staff Attorney This past summer an email expressing abhorrent, racist views of a white supremacist group was circulated by a (now former) JAMS arbitrator. While JAMS quickly severed its relationship with the arbitrator, the incident revived calls for arbitration providers to do…
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Understanding Judge Barrett’s Opinion in Doe v. Purdue
By Alexandra Brodsky Kazan Budd Staff Attorney Days after Justice Ginsburg’s death, Judge Amy Coney Barrett visited President Trump at the White House. Their meeting confirmed what many suspected: Judge Barrett, a recently-appointed member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, is…
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September 18, 2020 In Blog
The Legal Profession Has Long Erected Barriers to Diversity and Equity Among its Members. We Want the Pandemic to Be a Turning Point.
By Stevie Glaberson Staff Attorney The legal profession continues to be one of the least diverse in the nation. According to the most recently published statistics from the Bureau of Labor, more than 86% of American lawyers are white, and fewer than 6% identify as…