SPRING GRANTS TARGET CRIMINAL “INJUSTICE” SYSTEMS
One of the grants is for a class action lawsuit, which claims that the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) has discriminated against transgender women solely on the basis of their gender identity.
Impact Fund Makes Quarterly Spring Grants of $175,000 to Support Impact Litigation
Berkeley, CA 03.26.20 – The Impact Fund, the nation’s only legal grantmaking charity dedicated to advancing the use of impact litigation as a tool to achieve economic, environmental, and social justice, has just made grants totaling $175,000 in its spring cycle to fund four lawsuits to protect the rights of marginalized communities threatened by uncaring corporate interests and small-minded government.
“We want a more equitable world where everyone can achieve justice, and this round of grantmaking speaks eloquently to that vision,” said Impact Fund Executive Director, Jocelyn Larkin.
Among the hardest hit are those with additional barriers to accessing the justice system, such as transgender women who are incarcerated. One of the grants is to the Transgender Law Center for a class action lawsuit, which claims that the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) has discriminated against transgender women solely on the basis of their gender identity and that these women have been subjected to unsafe conditions including severe sexual harassment, physical violence, and rape. The goal of the case is to extend existing Colorado law to ensure that it protects transgender women in prison and, among other things, will allow the women to transfer to women’s prisons.
Commenting, Kris Hayashi, Executive Director of the Transgender Law Center said, “With this generous grant from the Impact Fund, we will continue fighting for justice for all transgender women held by the Colorado Department of Corrections. We are hoping that with this class action, filed in Colorado state court, officials will start to meet their obligations to keep transgender women safe, provide adequate healthcare, and treat trans women with the dignity and respect they deserve.”
Another class action case funded seeks to end over-detention in Louisiana’s penal system on behalf of the approximately 2,500 people each year across the state who continue to be imprisoned past their release date. An internal investigation in 2012 found that around 2,000 people per year are held on average 71.7 days past their release date, severely affecting their lives and at a cost of $3.7M to the state’s taxpayers.
The third grant is to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence in the battle to hold gun manufacturers and gun dealers accountable for their unlawful behavior in supplying guns to straw purchasers. The fourth grant is to preserve Native Hawaiian tradition and culture by granting Native Hawaiians continued access to Maunakea, Hawaii’s tallest mountain and a long-standing site of pilgrimage and prayer.
Helen Kang, chair of the Impact Fund’s Grant Advisory Committee said: “We’re addressing human rights, gun safety, and environmental justice in this round of grantmaking, giving communities the tools they need to achieve justice.”
Letters of inquiry for the Impact Fund’s summer grant making cycle are due April 14.
For more information and photography, contact:
Teddy Basham-Witherington 415.845.1206 / twitherington@impactfund.org
About The Impact Fund
The Impact Fund was founded in December 1992 to help advance economic, environmental, racial, and social justice through the courts. Originally envisioned as a purely grantmaking organization, the Impact Fund has made 694 grants totaling $7,633,956. Click here for Grant Criteria and information about Grant Deadlines.
Since its inception, the Impact Fund has grown to include both advocacy and education in its range of services. Today, the Impact Fund litigates a small number of cases directly, authors amicus briefs, provides a substantial amount of pro-bono consulting and presents an annual conference for plaintiff-side class action practitioners, a training institute for budding public interest class action practitioners, and numerous seminars and webinars. Click here for the 2019 Annual Report.
What Is Impact Litigation?
Impact Litigation is a lawsuit, often a class action, where the outcome of the case will advance economic, environmental, and/or social justice for a community or a large group, which may not have access to the courts on its own.
Grants Made In Spring Cycle
Grantee Amount Case Name
Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence $50,000 City of Gary v. Smith and Wesson
Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation $30,000 Maunakea Administrative Rules
Promise of Justice Initiative $45,000 Over-detention in Louisiana
Transgender Law Center $50,000 Raven v. Polis
Total $175,000