California Systemic Prison Cases
The California prison system—the largest state system—incarcerates over 160,000 people on any given day. It is subject to a large number of system-wide cases in which courts have found serious constitutional violations or violations of prior settlement agreements. The most costly of these cases, Plata, concerns medical care, which has at this point been turned over to a court-appointed receiver. Solving the constitutional problems will cost hundreds of millions, even billions, of dollars.
In three of the cases—Plata, Coleman (mental health care), and Armstrong (disability discrimination)—the plaintiffs have asked for imposition of a population cap on the California system, as a constitutionally necessary remedy. Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, such a cap may be entered only by a specially constituted three-judge district court. The judges in Plata, Coleman, and Armstrong are currently considering whether to convene such a special panel.
Relevant case(s) include:
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Local Anti-Immigration Ordinance Cases
In the summer of 2006, the City of Hazleton (Pennsylvania) passed a local ordinance penalizing anyone who rented to or hired an illegal immigrant. This was the first city ordinance of its kind.
Nearly immediately, a collection of public interest organizations challenged the ordinance in the federal district court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Both the ordinance and the suit received a great deal of press. The ordinance (and its more carefully drafted replacement, a couple of months later) served as models for several dozen other cities' and counties' similar enactments. As of this writing, six other similar suits have been filed so far: in state court against Valley Park, Missouri; in federal court against Escondido, California; Cherokee County, Georgia; and Farmers Branch, Texas; and in both federal and state court against Riverside, New Jersey. Documents from each are posted in the Clearinghouse. In each so far, the locality has either forgone or the court has enjoined enforcement of the ordinance. Final orders have been entered in Hazleton and in Valley Park.
Relevant case(s) include:
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Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Even though this is the most famous civil rights case ever, the relevant litigation documents are not easy to come by. The Supreme Court decisions, in 1954 (announcing the rule that "separate is inherently unequal") and 1955 (announcing that remediation of Jim Crow school segregation could proceed "with all deliberate speed"), were obviously extraordinarily important, and are easily available. But the litigation in Topeka lasted from the filing of the first complaint in 1951 until final dismissal of the case in 1999. The Clearinghouse has copies of many of the crucial documents in the case.
Relevant case(s) include:
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