Criminal Legal System
-
Monroe v. United States: Dismantling barriers to accountability for police brutality
This case seeks accountability under international human rights law for survivors and victims of police brutality. It asks the Inter-American Commission for a declaration that the human rights of Mr. Monroe and his mother were violated by his unlawful arrest and beating by Louisiana police and the subsequent failure of Louisiana and federal authorities to…
-
The Associated Press: Rights groups sue to free Venezuelans deported from the US and held in El Salvador
Tags Share Earlier today, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and three other human rights organizations filed an emergency petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, urging the release of over 200 Venezuelan migrants deported by the U.S. and imprisoned without due process in El Salvador. Filed on behalf of the families of 18 detained…
-
This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share U.S. Press Freedom Falls to Historical Low Press freedom in the United States has hit a record low, according to the latest World Press Freedom Index published annually by Reporters Without Borders. Press freedom in the U.S. now falls in line with developing countries, such as Gambia, Uruguay and Sierra Leone. While physical threats against journalists…
-
This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share International Tribunal Condemns U.S. Border Officials for Torturing, Killing Immigrant Nearly 15 years after Anastasio Hernández Rojas’ wife began pushing for justice in her husband’s killing, an international human rights commission found that U.S. border officials were responsible for his death — and that they tortured him before he died. This is the first time that…
-
Submission to the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement (EMLER) on Barriers to Accountability for Police Brutality
Receiving Body United Nations International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement (EMLER) Report Type Submission for the Fourth Annual Report to the Human Rights Council Tags Partners
-
Human Rights Groups Urge United Nations Racial Justice Body to Address Legal Barriers for Victims of Police Violence
Tags Share Washington, D.C., April 28, 2025 – Last week, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Louisiana, and the Juror Project submitted a report to a United Nations experts body highlighting legal barriers for victims of police violence who seek civil remedies. The report was submitted ahead…
-
This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share Trump Guts Key Civil Rights Protections With New Executive Order On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that would further weaken civil rights protections and make it more difficult for plaintiffs to prevail in discrimination cases in areas such as education, housing, health care and public benefits. The order instructs federal agencies to stop enforcing laws and regulations…
-
This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share Trump Administration Directs Judges to Deny Asylum Without Hearings A new Trump administration policy urges immigration judges to swiftly deny asylum to migrants whose applications they deem unlikely to succeed. The expedited dismissals would circumvent the normal hearing process, which typically takes years to wind through the backlogged courts. Trump Measures Make Life…
-
VT Digger: Nikhil Goyal and Kerry Kennedy: Vermont can show that we can be smart on crime by treating youth like youth
Tags Share In a recent VTDigger commentary, Founder of RFK Human rights Kerry Kennedy and sociologist Nikhil Goyal highlight Vermont’s progressive juvenile justice reforms, particularly the “Raise the Age” law. This legislation allows individuals under age 20 to be tried in juvenile court for certain offenses, emphasizing rehabilitation over punishment. The authors argue that such…
-
WBUR: Poor conditions at Louisiana ICE detention center holding Tufts student, advocates say
Tags Share WBUR has reported, former detainees have described punitive and unsanitary conditions at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, where a Turkish Tufts University student, Öztürk, is being held. In an August 2024 report, Anthony Enriquez—vice president of U.S. advocacy and litigation at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights—warned that Öztürk faces the…
-
Kansas Reflector: CoreCivic plans for ICE facility in Kansas have generated public opposition. It’s plowing ahead.
Tags Share Writing in the Kansas Reflector, our legal fellow Medha Raman and two co-authors denounce the private prison company CoreCivic’s attempts to reopen a notorious Leavenworth jail as an immigration detention facility. The authors highlight CoreCivic’s past failures in the Leavenworth community and the long record of abuse at other CoreCivic-operated ICE facilities across the country. Read…
Share