Criminal Legal System
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Helen Prejean
Biography: Louisiana, 1977. Brothers Patrick and Eddie Sonnier admitted mugging David LeBlanc, age seventeen, and Loretta Bourque, eighteen, one autumn night, but each blamed the other for murdering them and raping Bourque. Eddie was sentenced to life, Patrick to death by electrocution. In the summer of 1982, Sister Helen Prejean had moved into St. Thomas…
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Juan Mendez
Biography: From the time that he worked as a lawyer in Argentina in the early 1970s helping to build the modern human rights movement, Juan Méndez created a road map for others to follow in defending political cases. When he was detained by the brutal Argentine security forces, his family moved quickly to demand his…
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Violence against inmates
Tags Share Writing in The New York Times, our VP of U.S. Advocacy & Litigation Anthony Enriquez comments on the rising levels of violence against prison inmates – including those held in pretrial detention.
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RFKHR’s legal strategy to end indefinite immigration detention highlighted in habeas corpus lawsuit wins
Tags Share Every day, the United States government holds over 35,000 people in immigration detention while their immigration cases proceed. Using a nationwide network of jails and prisons located in rural communities isolated from legal assistance groups, the government cuts off immigrants’ access to lawyers and subjects thousands of people each year to prolonged detention…
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Mike Brown v. United States: Seeking justice for lethal police violence
This case seeks justice for the extrajudicial killing of Mike Brown and violations of the human rights of Mike and his mother Lezley McSpadden under the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man.
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Families of Mike Brown, Rekia Boyd Reach Global Stage of Yearslong Human Rights Battle
Tags Share Earlier this summer, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights worked with the families of Mike Brown and Rekia Boyd to file a merit brief with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The brief is the latest effort for accountability and justice for the Brown and Boyd families following their loved ones’ deaths at the…
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Call to action to stop inhumane practice of solitary confinement in NC prisons
Tags Share Every day, tens of thousands of incarcerated Americans are subjected to an internationally recognized form of torture, and the horrors of it are largely hidden from public view. They spend 22 hours or more a day alone in locked cells the size of parking lot spaces, often in filthy conditions with little to…
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Rekia Boyd v. United States: Fighting impunity for police killings
This case seeks accountability through international human rights law for the extrajudicial killing of Rekia Boyd by a Chicago police officer.
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Minnesota foster youth are tortured with solitary confinement: Report to UN International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement
In June 2023, RFK Human Rights and partner Atlas of Blackness submitted written testimony and proposed recommendations to the United Nations International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement (EMLER). This submission followed EMLER’s visit to Minnesota, MN.
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Black Minnesotans Tell UN Panel of Harms Committed by Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Authorities
Tags Share Speaking with The Imprint, our staff attorney Delia Addo-Yobo highlights the physical and mental health repercussions of solitary confinement. Joined by partner organizations and directly impacted individuals, Delia recently traveled to Minnesota to present before UN delegates on the devastating ramifications of solitary. Read the full article for more information about RFK Human…
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US abuses human rights with solitary confinement: request for thematic hearing at the IACHR
In April 2023, RFK Human Rights and nine partners requested a thematic hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights concerning the United States’ tortuous use of solitary confinement. The request exposes how the United States’ persistent use of solitary confinement violates international human rights law, threatening the rights to life, health and safety, liberty,…
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Human rights attorneys urge UN to review the solitary confinement of Black Americans
Tags Share “The United States also has a very long and unfortunately active history of weaponizing solitary confinement against Black people, Black political prisoners and people exercising their constitutional rights.” Speaking with The Hill, our staff attorney Delia Addo-Yobo urges the United Nations to review abusive solitary confinement practices against Black people in the United…
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