The Courts and Legal Policy team works to advance reforms to make America’s legal system more accessible and just for ordinary people.
A courtroom in Ohio. (Getty/Carol M. Highsmith/Buyenlarge)
What We're Doing
Ensure America's judges reflect its diversity
Despite recent and historic gains, America’s federal judges remain overwhelmingly white and male, and the bench is stacked with those from corporate law backgrounds and former federal prosecutors. Appointing diverse nominees with diverse backgrounds is essential to strengthening the courts.
Modernize the federal bench at all levels
From significant expansion of the lower courts to instituting term limits for Supreme Court justices, it is critical to enact reforms that will ensure that the size of the judiciary and the makeup of the Supreme Court reflect the needs of the American people and the realities of modern life.
Advance access to justice for all people
Too often, justice in America’s courtrooms is only accessible to those with means and in power. The need to expand access to justice has only become more pressing as COVID-19 has exacerbated long-standing legal inequities. All people, regardless of income or status, deserve high-quality legal help.
The Trump Administration’s Family Separation Policy Is Over
Individual and collective accountability for the family separation policy is needed to hold individuals responsible, restore faith in government institutions, prevent further abuses, and provide appropriate redress.
Promoting Accountability: State and Federal Officials Shouldn’t Be Above the Law
Policymakers must ensure that state and federal officials can be held accountable in court when they violate the law and harm those they are supposed to protect.
Pipelines to Power: Encouraging Professional Diversity on the Federal Appellate Bench
Policymakers can diversify the federal courts by confirming more lawyers from civil rights and public defender backgrounds to the bench as well as creating pipelines of young attorneys from a range of professions for future judgeships.
Meaningful access to abortion care, as well as the ability to enforce abortion and other civil and human rights in court, are at stake in the upcoming Supreme Court case.
Dismantling the culture of power that sustains and fuels gender-based violence requires a comprehensive, national strategy that connects meaningful policy solutions across the diverse issues affecting survivors and communities.
Jocelyn Frye, Shilpa Phadke, Robin Bleiweis, 6 MoreMaggie Jo Buchanan, Danielle Corley, Osub Ahmed, Rebecca Cokley, Laura E. Durso, Chelsea Parsons
The federal judiciary does not reflect the population that it serves, which has severe consequences for both the institution’s legitimacy and the parties who come before it.
