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Anti-Racist Civil Rights Litigation
Aiding Inmates Jailed Under a Racist, Jim Crow-Era Law
Two states in the U.S.—Louisiana and Oregon—have long had a shameful distinction: They’ve both allowed criminal conviction by non-unanimous juries.
The intent was to disempower minority jurors and deprive people of color of a fair trial. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court finally threw out these laws as unconstitutional, and future defendants will no longer be subject to them. But what about the thousands of victims of this decades-long discrimination who are still behind bars? Davis Wright Tremaine has joined with partner organizations in both states to help repair the injustice.
In Louisiana, we’re collaborating with the Promise of Justice Initiative in seeking postconviction relief for these inmates—more than half of whom are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Twenty-six DWT attorneys and six paralegals are helping litigate and conducting legal research on prospective cases. To optimize impact, we have also recruited lawyer participants from several of our largest clients, including Facebook, JPMorgan Chase, and Bloomberg.
Will Friedman, counsel in our Washington, D.C., office, helped spearhead the project by bringing the Promise of Justice Initiative to our attention and making the necessary introduction. The teams are currently representing 12 clients and have devoted more than 530 hours to the effort so far. In Oregon, we’ve also partnered with Lewis & Clark Law School’s Criminal Justice Reform Clinic to represent five Oregon inmates sentenced on the basis of nonunanimous jury verdicts.
A dozen DWT attorneys have so far devoted more than 330 hours to the work. The Oregon State Bar New Lawyers Division recognized Olivier Jamin, an associate in our Portland office, for his leadership in this effort, honoring him with the 2020 Advancing Diversity Award.
Meanwhile, a third group of DWT lawyers is pursuing a case before the U.S. Supreme Court that seeks to make last year’s ruling retroactive. Led by San Francisco partner Allison Davis, our team filed an amicus brief on behalf of 14 former state and federal prosecutors in Louisiana. They argue that “‘finality’ is not the highest goal of our criminal justice system: Justice is.” The Court heard arguments in December.
Racial disparities within the criminal justice system continue to be one of the most devastating and unjust sources of inequity in American society. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law established its Criminal Justice Project to challenge these disparities.
Our Washington, D.C., partner, Chava Brandriss, serves on the Lawyers’ Committee board and took the lead last year, in partnership with JPMorgan Chase, on conducting innovative, in-depth research and analysis relating to barriers to police accountability and reform. A combined team of 10 lawyers is participating.
The research will be used to help shape the Lawyers’ Committee’s work by identifying jurisdictions in which they may be able to drive and support meaningful change and the issues to focus on. The ultimate goal is to remove barriers to reform in a system that discriminates against people of color, criminalizes poverty, and enables civil rights violations.
Supporting the Movement to Reform Our Cash Bail System I Wanted to Find a Community Where I Could Serve”
The cash bail system perpetuates inequalities and can be devastating to the lives of defendants and their families. The DWT team of Bradford Hardin, Matthew Diggs, and Anastasia Liounakos is representing four criminal court judges in Harris County, Texas, who have seen up close the ruinous effects of our current system and are engaged in litigation seeking reform. The case is ongoing. Caesar Kalinowski is a military veteran with a strong commitment to giving back. His dedication to pro bono work last year earned him the annual “Julie Orr Heart of Justice” Award, which is named for our former pro bono manager and honors an outstanding DWT associate. Caesar describes how his life experience drives him to help the underserved, including veterans and people who are incarcerated.
Defending the Rights of a Journalist of Color Swept Up in a Mass Arrest
Last August, police in Washington, D.C., arrested multimedia journalist Kian Kelley-Chung and seized his equipment while he was covering Black Lives Matter protests in the Adams Morgan neighborhood.
Although Mr. Kelley-Chung identified himself as a journalist, officers confiscated his two cameras and his smartphone and he was held in custody for over 18 hours. Thanks to the efforts of the National Press Photographers Association, working with DWT lawyers, D.C. police returned Mr. Kelley-Chung’s equipment. A team at DWT then filed suit, alleging violations of our client’s constitutional rights.
Earlier this year we were proud to celebrate a substantial monetary settlement in the case.
“Respecting the rights of photographers and reporters is not optional for police officers,” said Mr. Kelley-Chung’s attorney, Robert Corn-Revere. “Hopefully, outcomes like this will help reinforce that message.”
Said Mr. Kelley-Chung: “It is important that people remember the power they have when they hold a camera, and their ability to hold the system accountable.”
Also assisting in the case were Ronald London (now with Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) and Meenakshi Krishnan.
