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We welcome the fulfillment of President Biden’s promise to commute the death sentences of 37 people on federal death row. The federal death penalty – just like state capital punishment systems – is racist, error-prone, drains public resources, and does not deter crime or make our communities safer. We encourage President Biden to finish the...

Washington, D.C.— Today, the MacArthur Justice Center’s Greg Cui joined co-counsel Andrew Adler and Janice Bergmann from the Federal Public Defender’s Office at the Supreme Court, where Mr. Adler argued on behalf of our client, Michael Bowe. The Federal Public Defender’s Office and the MacArthur Justice Center are fighting to ensure that courts do not...

Chicago, IL — The Unlock the Box Campaign and Look2Justice have launched a first-of-its-kind national bus tour and grassroots mobilization effort to expose the brutal realities of solitary confinement in immigration detention as well as federal, state, and local prisons, jails, and juvenile detention centers. The “Journey to Justice” bus tour will...

The Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender and 13 criminal and civil legal aid and social services organizations, including nine specializing in serving survivors of domestic and sexual violence, formally petitioned the court today. Chicago, IL – Today, the MacArthur Justice Center, on behalf of 13 legal services organizations in Cook County, including...

Jefferson City, MO —Today, Lambda Legal, the MacArthur Justice Center, and law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon announced a settlement in Monroe, Administratrix of the Estate of Honesty Bishop v. Foley, et. al., a federal lawsuit alleging that a discriminatory Missouri Department of Corrections’ (“MODOC”) policy resulted in the prolonged use of solitary confinement against...

CHICAGO, IL —Today, a settlement was reached in a long-running lawsuit that challenged the City of Chicago’s use of ShotSpotter for violating people’s constitutional and civil rights. As part of the settlement, the City agreed that a ShotSpotter alert does not give police justification to stop or pat down a person who happens to be...

Seasoned Litigator and Nonprofit Executive to Lead the 40-Year-Old Organization’s Next Chapter as its Third Executive Director Chicago, IL — The MacArthur Justice Center (MJC), a national, nonprofit law firm devoted to combatting and redressing injustices in the criminal legal system, is pleased to announce the appointment of David Shapiro as its next Executive Director,...

ST. LOUIS — The MacArthur Justice Center has filed a case on behalf of individuals housed in Algoa Correctional Center in Missouri – a nearly 100-year-old prison without air conditioning – ahead of another historically hot summer where the heat index is predicted to rise up to 100-120 degrees, asserting the excessive heat prisoners are...

ST. LOUIS — Citing a violation of the First Amendment, the First Amendment Clinic at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, with the support of Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center, has filed suit to overturn a de facto book ban in Missouri prisons. In late 2023, the Missouri Department of Corrections (MoDOC)...

Class of local nonprofit and government fellows embarks on interdisciplinary leadership development program in service of effective governance CHICAGO, IL — The University of Chicago Center for Effective Government (CEG) at the Harris School of Public Policy today announced its 2025 class of Civic Leadership Academy (CLA) fellows—some of the area’s most promising government and...

NEW ORLEANS — Raymond Scott, an unhoused New Orleans resident, has now alleged class-wide allegations in his complaint against the Louisiana State Police, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and the Louisiana Department of Transportation. The lawsuit seeks to prevent these state entities from evicting unhoused residents and seizing their property without constitutional protections...