Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Partnering with communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities in the south to defend and advance their political, social and economic rights through the combination of legal advocacy, research, organizing and communications.

Marian Lewin and Melvin Montford: N.C. counties should defy the ‘Big Lie,’ protect voters

Read SCSJ clients Melvin Montford, head of the North Carolina A. Philip Randolph Institute, and Marian Lewin, spokesperson for the League of Women Voters of North Carolina, op-ed condemning Judicial Watch’s efforts to propagate the “Big Lie” and attack voters in the Greensboro News & Record. Read their op-ed <<HERE>>. Even with North Carolina’s record […]

South Carolina Groups Join Regional Effort to Prepare Voters for Redistricting Process

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 10, 2021 Media Contacts:Sailor Jones, Communications Director, SCSJ sailor@scsj.org, 919-260-5906Mary Dell Hayes, Project Manager, SC Counts, marydellhayes@stopgapsolutionsmd.com, 803-730-7785 South Carolina Counts and South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center join the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) to prepare South Carolina residents to engage and educate communities in fair districting COLUMBIA, S.C. […]

Georgia Groups Join Regional Effort to Prepare Voters for Redistricting Process

Media Contacts:Sailor Jones, Communications Director, SCSJ, sailor@scsj.org, 919-260-5906Karuna Ramachandran, GRA, kramachandran@advancingjustice-atlanta.org, 404-585-8446 ext. 106 The Georgia Redistricting Alliance and ProGeorgia join the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) to prepare Georgia residents to engage and educate communities in fair districting ATLANTA, GA (September 10, 2021) — As the nation gears up for this decade’s redistricting work, […]

Southern Coalition for Social Justice Responds to Redistricting Data Release

SCSJ’s Allison Riggs: “We know the South is ready.” FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 12, 2021MEDIA CONTACT: Sailor Jones, Communications Director, sailor@scsj.org, 919-260-5906 Durham, N.C. (August 12, 2021) — In response to the U.S. Census Bureau’s August 12 release of redistricting data, Allison Riggs, Co-Executive Director and Chief Counsel for Voting Rights with North Carolina-based Southern […]

Louisiana’s Power Coalition Joins Regional Effort to Prepare Voters for Redistricting Planning

Louisiana Power Coalition for Equity and Justice and Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) prepare three redistricting fellows to engage and educate Louisiana communities about equitable redistricting FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 4, 2021MEDIA CONTACTS:Janea Jamison,Director of Programs, Power Coalitionjjamison@powercoalition.org,985-513-1674 Sailor JonesCommunications Director, SCSJsailor@scsj.org919-260-5906 NEW ORLEANS, L.A. (August 4, 2021) —  As the nation gears up […]

Alabama Groups Join Regional Effort to Prepare Voters for Redistricting Process

Alabama Forward, The Ordinary People Society (TOPS), Mobile Alabama NAACP, and League of Women Voters Alabama join the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) and Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) to prepare Alabama residents to engage and educate communities in fair districting FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 4, 2021MEDIA CONTACTS:Sailor Jones, Communications Director, SCSJ, sailor@scsj.org, 919-260-5906Robert […]

N.C. Voting Rights Groups Demand Open Redistricting Process

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 2, 2021MEDIA CONTACTS:Sailor Jones, Communications Director, sailor@scsj.org, 919-260-5906Hilary Harris Klein, Voting Rights Counsel, hilary@scsj.org, 919-794-4198 ext. 119 DURHAM, N.C. (August 2, 2021) — A coalition of North Carolina voting rights organizations are demanding an open process for drawing the state’s legislative and Congressional districts, outlined in a redistricting recommendations letter emailed […]

NC REPORT: Process to Fix Mail-in Ballots Saved Tens of Thousands of Votes in 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 29, 2021Media Contacts: Sailor Jones, 919-260-5906, sailor@scsj.orgGino Nuzzolillo, 402-415-4763, gino@scsj.org DURHAM, N.C. (July 29, 2021) — North Carolina’s 2020 mail-in “cure” process allowed nearly 20,000 North Carolinians to have their votes counted in the general election, according to a new report from Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ). In August 2020, […]

OP-ED: Gov. Abbott’s Attacks on Texas’ Checks and Balances Will Not Go Unchecked

Read the League of Women Voters of Texas’ recent op-ed HERE. Angry at his party’s failure to pass a sweeping anti-voter law, last month Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a new state budget that defunds the entire state legislature. The move endangers our democracy, undermines the will of Texans, and attacks the constitutional checks and […]

OP-ED: Arrested for voting? Hervis Rogers and the case against disappearing our voters.

Read SCSJ’s Equal Justice Works Fellow Mitchell Brown’s Houston Chronicle op-ed HERE. Last week, when Attorney General Ken Paxton arrested Hervis Rogers for allegedly casting an illegal ballot, he did so knowing that Rogers is considered an American hero. Rogers made national headlines after waiting more than six hours to vote at a Houston polling place […]

SCSJ Responds to Supreme Court Decision to Deny State Relief Under the Voting Rights Act

SCSJ: “Today, the Supreme Court ignored the impact of Arizona’s racist, anti-voter legislation” Durham, N.C. (July 1, 2021) — A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court today denied challenges to two election restrictions in Arizona and narrowed the application of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act without foreclosing the possibility to bring future claims.  […]

OP-ED: NC Senate’s proposed budget includes measures that could undermine fair elections

Read SCSJ Executive Director and Chief Counsel for Voting Rights Allison Riggs’s Raleigh News & Observer op-ed HERE. ___________________________________________________________________________________ State Senators, sent to Raleigh to pass a budget that addresses North Carolinians’ needs, have just advanced new anti-voter proposals in a fiscal plan with lasting impacts on the freedom to vote. The latest version of […]

SCSJ Responds to NC Senate Passage of Anti-Voter Bills

RALEIGH, N.C. (6.16.2021) — The North Carolina Senate today advanced three bills that would slash mail-in voting deadlines, create a redundant online voter registration system, and bar elections boards from accepting grant funding. The bills, which passed along party lines, now head to the House for consideration. Allison Riggs, Co-Executive Director and Chief Counsel for […]

Southern Coalition for Social Justice Joins N.C. Voting Rights Advocates to Oppose Anti-Voter Bills

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 14, 2021CONTACT: Sailor Jones, sailor@scsj.org, 919-260-5906 RALEIGH, N.C. (June 14, 2021) — Voting rights advocates converged on the grounds of the N.C. General Assembly on Monday for a press conference to speak out against Senate Bills 326, 724, and 725 as lawmakers ramp up efforts to restrict access to the ballot.  […]

Southern Coalition for Social Justice Responds to Senate Bill 724’s Fast-tracked Changes to Online Voter Registration

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 9, 2021CONTACT: Sailor Jones, (919) 260-5906, sailor@scsj.org DURHAM (June 9, 2021) — North Carolina-based voting rights group Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) responded today to Senate Bill 724, one of a slate of Republican voting-related changes being fast-tracked in the North Carolina legislature. The bill not only invests in NC’s enjoined […]

Protecting Against the Onslaught of Voter Suppression Efforts in the States: A Statement from the Voting Rights Working Group

READ THE FULL STATEMENT. (May 18, 2021) — As a nation, we have a shared commitment and responsibility to protect the voices and the rights of American voters. Our systems of democracy are made stronger when we all are respected and heard. A representative and effective government starts with free and fair access to the vote. […]