On December 17, 2015, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ), a North Carolina-based civil rights non-profit, launched OpenDataPolicingNC.com at a public event in downtown Durham. The first site of its kind, OpenDataPolicingNC.com draws upon [...]
Coalition of Civic Organizations Sues North Carolina for Failing to Comply with Federal Voting Rights Obligations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 15, 2015 Contacts Michael McDunnah, Project Vote 202-905-1397 / mmcdunnah@projectvote.org Hayley Home, Morrison Foerster 415-268-6021 / hhome@mofo.com Donté Donald, Demos 212-485-6062 / ddonald@demos.org Allison Riggs, Southern Coalition for Social Justice 919-323-3380 ext. 117 / allison@southerncoalition.org Stacie Burgess, Lawyers’ Committee 202-445-6101 / sburgess@lawyerscommittee.org Coalition of Civic [...]
Daryl Atkinson attends 3 major Criminal Justice Reform Conferences This Week
This week Daryl attended three different criminal justice reform conferences around the country. On Monday, November 9th he participated in the Criminal Justice and Public Health National Convening hosted at the Ford Foundation in New York. The main focus of the conference was to bring together public health professionals and criminal justice reform advocates, to create a [...]
Ian Mance presents at Code for America Summit
At this year’s Code for America Summit in Oakland, CA, SCSJ’s Ian Mance presented on Identifying Racial Bias in Policing Practices. In 1999 North Carolina became the first state to pass legislation allowing the State Bureau of Investigations to collect traffic stop data from state, city and county police departments. This massive collection of data was requested [...]
SCSJ's Daryl Atkinson meets with POTUS on Ban the Box
President Obama Announces Federal Ban the Box. SCSJ’s Daryl Atkinson is in Newark, NJ today for a round table discussion with President Obama, Senator Cory Booker and other members of the Formerly Incarcerated and Convicted Peoples’ Movement who have been working for many months to achieve better policies. While in Newark, the President will highlight [...]
Daryl Atkinson awarded Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award
On the evening of Tuesday, October 6th, the Institute for Policy Studies awarded Daryl Atkinson and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice the Domestic Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award. The award was in recognition of Daryl and the organization’s work with reforming the criminal justice landscape. Daryl’s work focuses on those who are released from prison [...]
SCSJ's Own Daryl Atkinson on The Daily Show
Talking about “Ban the Box” and the Hamburgler on the Daily Show with Trevor Noah is SCSJ’s own Daryl Atkinson! Get More: Comedy Central,Funny Videos,Funny TV Shows [...]
Voter ID Case to Move Forward Next Year
North Carolina State Court Judge Michael Morgan has denied the State’s motion to dismiss the Voter ID challenge, Currie v. North Carolina. SCSJ’s press release is here. The order on the Motion to Dismiss is here and the Order on the Motion for a Stay is here. SCSJ represents Alberta Currie, the League of Women Voters, [...]
Another Redistricting Case at the US Supreme Court to Watch
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice filed an Amicus Brief with the United States Supreme Court in Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. The Supreme Court, in Harris, is deciding whether partisan political gain justifies deviation from the one-person, one-vote principle of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The lower court in Arizona [...]
Zealous and Holistic Defense Advocacy Starts in Delinquency Court
Since 2008, I have worked as a capital defender in North Carolina. I work in an office that represents clients in potentially capital cases at the trial level. Frequently, guilt is not an issue, and our job as defense counsel becomes saving the life of our client facing a death sentence. Prior to my current [...]
SCSJ Files Amicus Brief for Virginia NAACP
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice filed this Brief of Amicus Curiae Virginia State Conference of the NAACP in the US Supreme Court. The Court is considering a case which will determine whether voting rights plaintiffs in statewide redistricting cases have the right to a three-judge court to hear their claims. The Fourth Circuit Court [...]
Carlos Riley Found Not Guilty of Assault
Durham, N.C. A jury today found Carlos Riley, Jr. not guilty of assault on a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer, assault on a law enforcement officer inflicting serious injury, and robbery with a dangerous weapon. He was found guilty of common [...]
Changes Made to North Carolina Voter ID Requirements
On the eve of trial in the legal challenge to North Carolina’s oppressive Voter ID law, the General Assembly has capitulated, voting overwhelmingly in both houses to allow qualified voters who lack photo identification to affirm their identities and exercise their constitutional right to vote. In passing House Bill 836 on Thursday, the General Assembly [...]
SCSJ's Daryl Atkinson on the PBS NewsHour discussing "Ban the Box"
SCSJ Senior Attorney for Criminal Justice Daryl Atkinson appeared on the PBS NewsHour on Wednesday, June 17, 2015 and discussed “Ban the Box” hiring reform with NewsHour Senior Correspondent William Brangham and senior executive counsel for the National Federation for American Business Elizabeth Milito. From its earliest days as a refuge for colonial settlers seeking a fresh [...]
"What We're Reading", SCSJ Troan Intern Edition
From Jani Radhakrishnan: Angelina Jolie’s Feminist Speech on Sexual Violence Deserves a Standing Ovation Late last week, Angelina Jolie gave a speech on [...]
SCSJ's Daryl Atkinson a finalist for David Carliner Public Interest Award
Southern Coalition for Social Justice Senior Staff Attorney for Criminal Justice Daryl Atkinson was recognized as a finalist for the American Constitution Society’s (ACS) David Carliner Public Interest Award at the 2015 ACS National Convention in Washington D.C. on Thursday, June 11. The award is given annually to a mid-career public interest lawyer and honors an attorney [...]
SCSJ honored by the League of Women Voters of North Carolina
The League of Women Voters of North Carolina honored the Southern Coalition for Social Justice with its Outstanding State League Partner Organization Award at the League’s statewide biennial convention in Durham on Saturday, June 6th. The award recognizes organizations for “their collaborative services that have enabled the LWVNC to be a stronger, more effective organization congruent with [...]
North Carolina Put On Lawsuit Notice Over Declining Voter Registration
This story was written by Samantha Lachman and was first published to HuffPost Politics on June 1, 2015. WASHINGTON — A slate of civil rights groups put North Carolina on notice Monday, writing in a pre-litigation letter that the state must meet its voter registration obligations or risk a lawsuit. The letter alleges that the [...]
North Carolina In Violation of "Motor Voter" Law
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 1, 2015 CONTACT: Dēmos: Donté Donald, 212-485-6012, ddonald@demos.org Project Vote: Michael McDunnah, 202-905-1397, mmcdunnah@projectvote.org The Southern Coalition for Social Justice: Allison Riggs, 919-323-3380 ext.117, allison@southerncoalition.org NORTH CAROLINA IN VIOLATION OF “MOTOR VOTER” LAW: Voting Rights Groups Call on State to Fix Voter Registration at DMVs, or Face Litigation (New York, [...]
Orange County group sends police chiefs, sheriff advice for fighting police bias
This story was written by Tammy Grubb and was first published in The News & Observer on May 26, 2015. CHAPEL HILL – A coalition of attorneys, citizens and community advocates is asking Orange County law enforcement to weed out any racial bias in their departments. The Orange County Bias-Free Policing Coalition recommended 11 steps, including [...]
SCSJ and partners call on North Carolina to comply with NVRA provisions
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice today took action to ensure that the State of North Carolina meets federal law requirements in providing voter registration opportunities to its citizens who receive public assistance. Since 1993, federal law requires public assistance agencies administering programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy [...]
'Second Chance' laws sought
RALEIGH, N.C. — Advocates for people with criminal records are calling for changes to state laws they say make it nearly impossible for former convicts to become productive members of society once they’ve finished their sentences. In the weeks leading up to crossover, state lawmakers moved a series of bills that would make small changes [...]
House Bill 879 – Juvenile Code Reform
House Bill 879 (H879) proposes various reforms and technical changes to the Juvenile Code. The changes are designed to improve due process protections, prevent further entry into the delinquency system, and reduce confinement in facilities. Due Process Sections 1.1 through 1.4 of the bill address several points in delinquency procedures. Section 1.1 raises the age [...]
Better School Discipline Data in NC
There’s finally good news coming out of and bi-partisan cooperation in the North Carolina General Assembly. Earlier this month, Representatives Graig Meyer, Rick Glazier, Sam Watford, and Donny Lambeth filed House Bill (HB) 819, an act designed to dramatically improve the state’s school discipline data. Currently, North Carolina law requires the State Board of Education to report, by March 15 of each year, [...]
SCSJ's Daryl Atkinson discusses "On the Run" on HuffPost Live
Senior Attorney Daryl Atkinson joined host Marc Lamont Hill and University of Wisconsin Sociologist Alice Goffman in a HuffPost Live discussion of Goffman’s book, “On the Run.” Much of “On the Run” focuses on the book’s main subjects, black men in their 20s living in a Philadelphia neighborhood who find ways to evade, dodge and [...]
The Negative Impacts of SB 343
North Carolina already has a massive school-to-prison pipeline and an alarming number of youth in the adult criminal system, and both crises may soon worsen. Rep. Jerry Tillman filedSB 343 (“Student Assault on Teacher/Felony Offense”) on March 19th. The bill would automatically make it a Class I felony offense for a student who is 16 years of age or [...]
School Resource Officer Census Released
Last month, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety’s Center for Safer Schools (CFSS) released its 2015 North Carolina School Resource Officer Census. The Census defines school resource officers (SROs) as “law enforcement officers who are assigned to work within the school setting.” (p. 2). It “provides a snapshot of SROs in North Carolina schools in the 2014-15 [...]
Suspension Prevention is Everybody’s Business
Across North Carolina and the nation, what’s often referred to as “the great equalizer” turns students away. Schools suspend students for not attending school. Yes, really. Students who miss too much school are told they must miss even more school. Does anyone really believe that less education is an effective strategy to help kids who already, [...]
Wake Voters Sue Over New County Commission Districts
For Immediate Release Contact: Beverley Clark, [...]
U.S. Supreme Court declines to immediately hear N.C. voting law case
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to immediately hear an appeal in a case challenging the state’s 2013 voting law, where the lower appeals court ruled that the state’s attempt to end same day registration and out of precinct voting likely violated the Voting Rights Act. That denial means that those issues, along with other challenged elements of the [...]
Words matter: the importance of humanizing criminal justice vocabulary
Inmate. Prisoner. Other. Discussed. What to call incarcerated people: Your feedback By BLAIR HICKMAN We received more than 200 responses to our callout asking the best way to refer to people behind bars. Of the options we offered, 38 percent preferred “incarcerated person,” 23 percent liked “prisoner” and nearly 10 percent supported use of the [...]
The School-to-Prison Pipeline in Action
At a recent talk I gave on the School-to-Prison Pipeline, a school board member in the audience strongly objected to the metaphor and said he thought it wrongly blamed school boards and school administrators for a whole host of societal problems that weren’t theirs to solve. At one level, I accept his point: schools can’t [...]
Man convicted of fatally shooting Michael Jordan’s father seeks new trial
The man convicted of fatally shooting Michael Jordan’s father in eastern North Carolina more than two decades ago hopes to win a new trial with what his attorneys describe as a wealth of new evidence. The Durham-based lawyers representing Daniel Andre Green, 40, maintain that a range of issues – from allegations of false testimony [...]
New evidence in Daniel Green’s case, SCSJ attorneys are seeking a new trial
Contact: Joyce Fitzpatrick 919-247-4400 joyce@fitzpatrickcomm.com For Immediate Release Daniel Green Files Motion for New Trial COMPELLING NEW EVIDENCE RAISES SIGNIFICANT QUESTIONS ABOUT LUMBERTON MAN’S MURDER CONVICTION IN THE 1993 KILLING OF MICHAEL JORDAN’S FATHER April 1, 2015 DURHAM, NC (March 31, 2015) – Daniel Green, one of two men currently imprisoned for the murder of James Jordan [...]
"Ban The Box" Advocates Call For Executive Order At White House
Criminal justice reform advocates are meeting with top White House advisers on Wednesday to help people who’ve done their time, Politico reports. They’re urging President Barack Obama to issue an executive order banning the government and federal contractors from asking most prospective employees questions about criminal records. The demand is commonly known as “ban the box,” which refers [...]
Court Says Packing Black Voters in Districts is Unconstitutional
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 25, 2015 Contact: Anita Earls, Southern Coalition for Social Justice 919-794-4198 (Office) U.S. SUPREME COURT’S DECISION IN ALABAMA REDISTRICTING CASE HAS IMPLICATIONS FOR NORTH CAROLINA’S REDISTRICTING PLANS In a win for voting rights advocates, the U.S. Supreme Court today put the brakes on using explicit racial criteria in redistricting. The [...]
"Ban the Box" campaign gains momentum in Washington
This story was written by Josh Gerstein and appeared on politico.com on March 25, 2015 Obama urged to ease hiring of ex-prisoners A group of criminal justice reformers, including some who served prison time, are headed to the White House Wednesday to press President Barack Obama to do more to help those who’ve been convicted [...]
Progress on NC school suspensions, violence, but more to do | News & Observer
*Originally published in the News & Observer Incidents of school crime and violence, short- and long-term suspensions, alternative learning program placements and corporal punishment were all down last school year. The Department of Public Instruction and school districts have been quick to tout the progress. Teachers and administrators deserve praise for keeping more students in school [...]
Welcoming the 'most vulnerable'
This editorial appeared in The Herald-Sun on Sunday, March 8, 2015. More than 2,100 unaccompanied immigrant children have been placed with sponsors – often family members – in North Carolina, according to the U.S. Office of Refugee and Resettlement. North Carolina is one of the “highest receiving states” for such children, estimated to total more than [...]
Selma march feels like 'hope and justice magnified'
Susan Burton of A New Way of Life in Los Angeles and Daryl Atkinson of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice finally got their turn to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge — twice. Burton’s dispatch: There are just thousands and thousands and thousands of people, as far as the eye can see, people lined up [...]
School board supports migrant children issue
This story was written by Gregory Childress and was originally published in The Herald-Sun on Tuesday, March 3, 2015. DURHAM-The school board has adopted a resolution reaffirming its support of more than 300 unaccompanied migrant children who now attend Durham Public Schools. The resolution was on the board’s consent agenda during a rare Monday night [...]
Public support increases for immigrant children in North Carolina
In keeping with its commitment to address issues of racial equity in education, SCSJ is continuing to work to help empower the immigrant community in the Triangle to protect the human and educational rights of their children. In active cooperation with immigrant students, teachers, public officials, and community leaders and activists dedicated to advancing the [...]
Greensboro workshop focuses on cleaning up criminal records
This story was written by Amanda Lehmert and was originally published in the News & Record on Saturday, February 28, 2015. GREENSBORO-On a bitter cold Saturday in January, folks crowded the pews at the Beloved Community Center. There was a pregnant mom who was having trouble finding a landlord who would rent to her. There [...]
North Carolina State Court Allows Photo ID Challenge to Proceed to Trial
This afternoon, Wake County Superior Court Judge Michael Morgan ruled that a challenge to North Carolina’s photo ID requirement for voting will proceed to trial in July 2015. In ruling on the respective motions for judgment on the pleadings (where no evidence is allowed to be taken into account), Judge Morgan indicated that the case [...]
SCSJ's Daryl Atkinson discusses 'The New Jim Crow' on HuffPost Live
SCSJ Senior Attorney Daryl Atkinson appeared on HuffPost Live at 6:30 PM EST with Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and HufffPost Washington Bureau Chief Ryan Grim to discuss Michelle Alexander’s critically acclaimed book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Era of Colorblindness and the opportunities for criminal justice reform. Alexander’s book reveals the phenomena [...]
Ban the Box to increase tax revenue and reduce crime
‘Ban the Box’ to increase tax revenue and reduce crime Guest Commentary QNotes ENGAGE: Write a letter to the editor For 1.6 million North Carolinians, the worst part of job searching is not the interview, but the moment they drop off the application. Nearly every employment application contains a small box on the front page [...]
SCSJ files a "friend of the court" brief with SCOTUS
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice yesterday filed an Amicus Curiae (“friend of the court”) brief with the United States Supreme Court in the case of City and County of San Francisco, et al. v. Teresa Sheehan, which is scheduled for oral argument on March 23, 2015. The brief, filed on behalf of the Policy Council on Law [...]
Eliminating the Second-Class Status of People With Criminal Records
Daryl Atkinson ’07 is a man on a mission to ensure that equal justice under the law is realized for those with a criminal past. His mission is simple: restore the civil rights and human rights of people with criminal records. This may appear to be a mighty feat as America has the highest rate [...]
Participate in the National Survey on Black Women's Labor Union Organizing and Leadership Experiences
National Survey on Black Women’s Labor Union Organizing and Leadership Experiences The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) is conducting a national survey of black women union members, organizers, leaders, and worker’s rights activists to learn more about their experiences in the labor movement. The survey is a companion piece to a forthcoming report and larger project, And Still I [...]
Zero tolerance drug policies cannot alleviate poverty
This post is a response to Mayor William V. “Bill” Bell’s recent guest column, “First steps key in long journey to eliminate poverty.” Zero tolerance drug policies cannot alleviate poverty Dear Mayor Bell, Ray Gronberg e-mailed me last week asking me to respond to new language in the city’s anti-poverty initiative calling for a “zero tolerance” [...]
Stop Punishing People After They Have Been Released From Prison
Stop Punishing People After They Have Been Released From Prison January 30, 2015 by Jeremy Haile This post first appeared on BillMoyers.com. BillMoyers.com is proud to collaborate with TalkPoverty.org as we focus on poverty coverage over the next two weeks. Every day, visit BillMoyers.com to discover a new action you can take to help turn [...]
Judge to take several weeks to rule on NC voter ID challenge
RALEIGH — A Wake County judge plans to take two to three weeks to decide whether a lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s voter ID law should be dismissed or proceed to trial this summer. Mike Morgan, a Wake County Superior Court judge, briefed attorneys Friday after listening to several hours of arguments for and against the [...]
Durham City Wide Study of The New Jim Crow
These are tumultuous times for the criminal justice system. Huffington Post reports that exonerations of wrongfully convicted people are at an all time high. Meanwhile, Marissa Alexander has finally been released from a nightmare of incarceration resulting from firing a single warning shot at a known abuser. In the background, police are not being charged [...]
The Fight Over Voter ID In NC Heads To State Court
A group that’s challenging North Carolina’s voting overhaul in federal court will take a different argument to state court Friday. The League of Women Voters and other plaintiffs are asking a judge in Raleigh to toss out a photo voter ID requirement that starts next year. Alberta Currie has turned out for election after election [...]
Critics of NC’s voter ID law to present their case in court
RALEIGH — Whether N.C. voters will have to show a photo ID in 2016 will depend on whether opponents can show why they shouldn’t have to. That test begins Friday when critics of the 2013 election law overhaul argue that the ID requirement violates the North Carolina Constitution. North Carolina residents and voting-rights organizations challenging [...]
50 Years After the Dream panel addresses UNC campus racism issues
A panel discussion held Thursday night focused on rejecting racist norms, especially within UNC’s community. The Campus Y and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. hosted 50 Years After the Dream, a panel on race and the justice system, to discuss the racial issues still affecting the country and college campuses today. Harmonyx, an a capella [...]
Shriver Racial Justice Training Institute Applications Open
Don’t Miss the Call to Action! Application Deadline: February 27, 2015! With recent events in Ferguson, Staten Island, and elsewhere, our nation is at a pivotal moment in understanding and addressing issues of race, implicit bias, and the structural barriers that marginalize communities of color. It is more important than ever for equal justice advocates [...]
Durham police report offers irrelevant detail on local marijuana cases, ignores racial profiling
DURHAM — Most of the people arrested and charged only with misdemeanor marijuana possession in 2013 and the first half of 2014 had prior criminal records, a new report from the Durham Police Department says. That said, it was much more common for police to stack a possession charge with other, sometimes more serious charges [...]
Durham Hosts Human Relations Awards Ceremony February 20
Nominations Sought by January 26; Nomination Form Now Available Online DURHAM, N.C. –The City of Durham Human Relations Commission is now seeking nominations of city and county residents who have distinguished themselves by contributing their time and talents to promoting good human relations in Durham. In honor of February as Human Relations Month, the City’s [...]
Communities reframe message to welcome immigrant kids
By Amanda Sakuma While the political uproar has died down over the flood of unaccompanied minors caught at the U.S. border, the states taking in the immigrant children continue to grapple with how to welcome – or not – the newcomers to their communities. In North Carolina, one of the top 10 states to host [...]
Duke-UNC Initiative on Poverty and Inequality Summer Fellowship
Duke-UNC Initiative on Poverty and Inequality Summer Fellowship This is a joint effort between UNC and Duke University to focus on issues of poverty and inequality in Durham and Orange counties. The initiative emphasizes the importance of developing an historical understanding as well as working with local communities to find policy solutions to these persistent [...]
SCSJ announces partnership with Youth Justice North Carolina
SCSJ has always maintained a strong commitment to addressing issues of racial equity in education, eliminating racial bias in the criminal justice system, ending mass incarceration, and removing unjust barriers faced by persons with criminal records. We are now excited to announce a new strategic partnership with Youth Justice North Carolina which will augment our [...]
Movement Supporting Immigrant Children Grows in Durham
The start to 2015 marked the continuation of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice’s efforts in empowering the immigrant community in North Carolina to protect the human and educational rights of their children. On January 5, 2015, the Durham City Council unanimously passed a resolution that is welcoming and supportive of immigrant children, including those [...]