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Debtors’ Prison Project

  • Federal Court Blocks Trump Administration’s Unlawful Civil Penalty Scheme Targeting Immigrant Families 

    October 6, 2026  Contacts:  Public Justice, communications@publicjustice.net   The Legal Aid Society, Press@legal-aid.org  (BOSTON, MA) — In a major victory for immigrant communities nationwide, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted preliminary relief to immigrants challenging the Trump Administration’s unprecedented civil penalty scheme, which sought to impose fines of up to $998 per day — often…

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  • New Lawsuit Challenges DHS’s “Fine Everyone Policy” Imposing $5,130 Fees on Noncitizens 

    Media Contacts: Press@legal-aid.org  Communications@publicjustice.net   (GREENBELT, MD) — Public Justice, The Legal Aid Society, and Brown Goldstein & Levy LLP today filed a class action lawsuit challenging the federal government’s policy of imposing $5,130 fees on noncitizens who entered the United States before the statute creating the fee was enacted or who are assessed the fee long after their…

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  • New Report Exposes Harms of the Trump Administration’s Immigration Fines Program

    For Immediate Release Monday, August 3, 2026 Contact: Ajay Singh, as11021@nyu.edu Public Justice, communications@publicjustice.net NEW YORK CITY, NY — The NYU Immigrant Rights Clinic (“IRC”)* today released Debt and the Deportation Agenda: Immigration Fines under the Second Trump Administration. The report exposes the harms of the second Trump Administration’s civil fines program, which has imposed…

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  • Children & Parents Sue to Restore Contact Visits in Solano County Jails, Asserting Their Right to Hug Their Family

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 23, 2026 Media Contacts:Public Justice | Nicole Funaro | communications@publicjustice.netBraunHagey & Borden LLP | Kory DeClark | declark@braunhagey.com | (415) 599-0210Criminal Law & Justice Center | Rio Scharf | rioscharf@berkeley.edu | (510) 239-3119Civil Rights Corps | Madhvi Venkatraman | media@civilrightscorps.org The lawsuit challenges a conspiracy between the Solano County Sheriff’s Office…

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  • Public Justice and the ACLU of Iowa Win Appeal in Black Hawk County Lawsuit

    Civil rights groups today won an appeal in a federal class action lawsuit that seeks to block the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s office from wrongly extracting money from people before releasing them from jail and from demanding payment under coercive terms. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that plaintiffs are harmed by the jail’s…

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  • Iowa Supreme Court issues decision in low-income Iowans’ legal cost case

    Media Contacts:  Cindy Garcia, ACLU of Iowa Communications Manager, cindy.garcia@aclu-ia.org Nicole Funaro, Public Justice Media Relations Strategist, nfunaro@publicjustice.net Today the Iowa Supreme Court made a decision in the State of Iowa v. Ronald Pagliai (PAG-lee-eye). The lawsuit argued that Iowa courts may not bill low-income Iowans for the cost of their court-appointed defense attorney when…

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  • New Lawsuit Challenges Federal Government’s Unconstitutional Civil Penalty Scheme That Fines Immigrant Families Up to $1.8 Million

    November 20, 2025 Media Contacts: The Legal Aid Society, Press@legal-aid.org Nicole Funaro, Public Justice, nfunaro@publicjustice.net Complaint Asserts the Government Is Issuing Massive Fines Without Notice, Evidence, Or A Chance to Contest Them   (BOSTON, MA) — Today, Public Justice, The Legal Aid Society, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), the…

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  • Children Sue to Restore Contact Visits in the Adams County Jail, Asserting Their Right to Hug Their Parents

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oct. 28, 2025 Media Contacts: Nicole Funaro, Public Justice, nfunaro@publicjustice.net Madhvi Venkatraman, Civil Rights Corps, media@civilrightscorps.org The lawsuit challenges a conspiracy between Adams County and HomeWAV to profit off of the elimination of contact visits.   ADAMS COUNTY, CO. — Children whose parents are jailed in Adams County have sued the County,…

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  • Lawsuit Challenging Riverside County’s Bail Processes Moves Forward

    Media contacts: Nicole Funaro | Public Justice | nfunaro@publicjustice.net Madhvi Venkatraman | Civil Rights Corps | media@civilrightscorps.org California Superior Court overruled the County Defendants’ demurrer to the complaint   Riverside County, CA — On Oct. 1, a judge denied two demurrers to a complaint challenging the county’s cash-based jailing of individuals between their arrest and…

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