Publications
June 1, 2023
Opinion: A Supreme Court ruling is a warning for Prop. 13 — tax law should be fair
Late last week, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a decades-old Minnesota property tax law was unlawful when it allowed the government to seize wealth from an elderly Black homeowner. The decision in Tyler vs. Hennepin County serves as a warning about legal defects in other property tax laws that unfairly harm communities of color, including California’s own Proposition 13.
The Minnesota case began when Geraldine Tyler failed to pay the taxes on her longtime Minneapolis home. Over several years, the tax debt accumulated to $2,300, exploding to $15,000 when penalties and fines were added. The county seized her condominium and sold it, keeping the entire proceeds — $40,000 — not just the $15,000 she owed.
April 25, 2023
California Supreme Court to Consider Prosecutorial Discretion Over “Three-Strikes” Law
The Los Angeles district attorney is contesting a requirement that he must seek higher sentences.
A major case centering on California’s “three-strikes” law, The Association of Deputy District Attorneys for Los Angeles County v. George Gascon, is now fully briefed and pending before the California Supreme Court, with oral arguments expected to take place later this year.
April 19, 2023
2022 Annual Impact Report
In 2022, Public Rights Project doubled down on partnerships with communities and governments from coast to coast—we ensured abortion rights, needed protection for workers, access to the ballot and fair elections for voters, and defended against egregious abuses of power on behalf of greedy corporations and authoritarian government officials, and more. Visit our impact report to learn how we protected civil rights for 23 million Americans.
February 8, 2023
Ron DeSantis' war against free speech is really all about abortion
On the eve of what would have been Roe v. Wade's 50th anniversary, a federal judge handed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a victory that could further imperil abortion access nationally.
Last month, federal district court judge Robert L. Hinkle ruled that the Republican governor had violated both the U.S. and Florida constitutions when he removed twice-elected Tampa prosecutor Andrew Warren last August after Warren signed a coalition statement affirming support for abortion access and opposing the Dobbs decision. It was a direct attack on the independence of local prosecutors who publicly affirm their support for reproductive rights. Nevertheless, Warren remains without a job. He has vowed to continue his fight for reinstatement, but if the ruling remains undisturbed, other state leaders like DeSantis will be emboldened to go after prosecutors like Warren — and they, too, might get away with it. In fact, we're already seeing these attacks in other states.
January 17, 2023
Preempting Progress: States Take Aim at Local Prosecutors
Public Rights Project and LSSC (Local Solutions Support Center) co-published a new white paper examining the use of preemption to thwart criminal justice reform. This report examines how as local communities have called on prosecutors to use their discretion to embrace reform and a less carceral approach to criminal justice, states have intervened in an attempt to force prosecutors to continue tough-on-crime policies.
December 26, 2022
The abortion battle has moved to your local court
A federal judge in Florida is soon expected to rule on whether Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) violated the First Amendment and abused his power when he overruled the will of voters and suspended Andrew Warren — the twice-elected state prosecutor of Tampa — for vowing that neither he nor his office would prosecute abortion cases.
The case sets the stage for an epic battle between state and local power — with doctors, patients and criminal defendants caught in the crosshairs.
Unfortunately, DeSantis’s move is not just a Florida problem or even a political anomaly. It is part of a growing string of attacks on local prosecutors for using their discretion in ways state leaders disagree with. We’ve recently seen this playbook in other states — and it heralds a dangerous new era.
March 1, 2022
2021 Annual Impact Report
2021 was not the year that many of us hoped for: An insurrection, an enduring pandemic, intensified threats against Black and Brown lives, and a Supreme Court poised to set reproductive rights back five decades. And yet, through all the hurt, struggle, disappointment, and uncertainty, we’ve also seen growing movements. Working people are organizing in rapidly rising numbers. Advocates are pushing for long-overdue overhauls of policing and public safety, demanding protections that include all of us, not just some at the expense of others. And local governments across our network are listening. They are not just settling for “business as usual” that pits the government against the communities they’re supposed to serve; they are using their power to become allies and advocates. Learn how we protected our most underserved communities by changing the way state, local, and tribal governments enforce laws.
January 19, 2022
Comment on: RIN 1218-AD42 COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing; Emergency Temporary Standard
Public Rights Project submitted a comment in support of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing on behalf of 11 local governments, urging that OSHA adopt a rule supporting vaccination and testing regimes for employers. Under the ETS, employers with 100 or more employees must develop, implement, and enforce a COVID-19 vaccination-or-test policy, which requires employees to either get vaccinated or undergo regular COVID-19 testing and wear a face covering at work. We recognize the importance of a vaccination policy in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. The rule is also especially important for preserving the ability of local governments to protect the public health of their communities in states trying to ban vaccine and mask requirements.
July 22, 2021
PRP Launches Workers’ Rights Magazine—THE PUBLIC
PRP has launched an in-house magazine—THE PUBLIC— an online publication dedicated to exploring the legal and social underpinnings of workers’ rights in America. We publish everything from explainers on current legal cases and why they matter, to history pieces on the evolution of workers’ rights, photo-essays from the front-lines of labor, and perhaps most importantly, first-hand stories from those communities most affected when laws go unenforced.
March 23, 2021
Localities Letter to CFPB re Consumer Complaint Database
PRP is partnering with the City of Chicago, IL, the City of Columbus, OH, Harris County TX, the City of Oakland, CA, and the City of Portland, OR to request access to CFPB's consumer complaint database. The CFPB makes sure banks, lenders, and other financial companies treat consumers fairly. As part of that work, CFPB maintains a consumer complaint database. The complaint database is a collection of complaints about consumer financial products and services that CFPB sends to companies for response. The complaints are submitted by individual consumers. Localities could previously access the complaint database to supplement their own investigations. CFPB cut off local access to the complaint database in the Trump Administration. PRP is requesting that CFPB restore cities' access to the complaint database so that localities can once again strengthen their consumer enforcement actions.
January 28, 2021
2020 Annual Impact Report
By Public Rights Project – In the face of many challenges, 2020 was a year of working in partnership with our network to drive actionable change for the communities in our cities that need it most—the over 35 million workers and 40 million tenants who are feeling the life-altering effects of the pandemic and the communities of color who, on top of the devastating health and economic impacts of COVID-19, faced threats to their public health and immigrants’ rights, federal encroachment, voter suppression, and police brutality. In this report, read more about our work to protect civil rights and advance racial and economic justice.
September 23, 2020
The Power and Potential of State Attorneys General to End Police Brutality
By Public Rights Project – This guide discusses five specific ways that state attorneys general can use their powers to make a difference on police reform and accountability. It also urges advocates to push their state attorneys general on the provided points and hold them—and policymakers at all levels of government—accountable to the urgent task of remaking the system of policing in our cities and states.
June 22, 2020 | Originally published on ChangeLabSolutions
Equitable Enforcement to Achieve Health Equity
Public health policies have catalyzed major health improvements for people living in the United States. But without enforcement — that is, a means of incentivizing compliance — these policies are less likely to produce their intended effects. Equitable enforcement is a process of ensuring compliance with law and policy that considers and minimizes harms to people affected by health inequities.
June 14, 2020 | Originally published on Protect Democracy
Diverse Coalition Committed to Protecting Constitutional Rights Urges Congress to Hold Federal Law Enforcement Accountable in Police Reform Bill
A letter to Speaker Pelosi, Leader McCarthy, Majority Leader McConnell, and Minority Leader Schumer. We are a broad coalition of ideologically diverse organizations all seeking to protect constitutional rights and build a stronger and more inclusive democracy in the United States. Our country’s history of police killings and violence against Black people and other people of color has shown the deadly cost of unchecked power, and we are encouraged by Congress’s efforts to remedy these harms through the Justice in Policing Act of 2020.
May 6, 2020 | Originally published on Medium
Re-Opening Requires Putting Working Families First
By Public Rights Project – The United States Department of Labor has solicited comments from the public in a National Online Dialogue to collect ideas about “challenges that may be faced as businesses reopen.” Public Rights Project has submitted the commentary below to highlight key challenges facing vulnerable workers.
May 6, 2020 | Originally published in the Take Care Blog & Daily Journal
The Fight for Contraceptive Coverage Rages in the Time of COVID-19
By Jonathan Miller and LiJia Gong – Women are uniquely impacted by the coronavirus. Domestic violence has surged; industries in which women provide an outsized portion of the labor force – service, retail, and childcare – are being crushed by the economic fallout; and incidents of sexual harassment by landlords have reportedly increased. Women are also experiencing disruptions in sexual and reproductive health care during the peak of the pandemic.
May 5, 2020 | Originally published on Medium
Reaching Vulnerable Tenants to Enforce State and Local Eviction Moratoriums
By Public Rights Project – An essential component of the public health response to the COVID-19 crisis is ensuring that people stay home. For low-income individuals and families, however, staying home may pose a challenge in the face of job loss or a significant reduction in income. Even without a public health crisis, low-wage workers struggle to afford rental housing. Now, the economic fallout of the pandemic threatens the housing stability of many tenants, including those who were not at high risk of housing instability before this crisis. Over half of low-income workers estimated that they would be unable to pay rent by May.
December 6, 2019 | Originally published in the Boston Globe
OP-ED: I am a public servant, not a public charge
By David Ureña, Public Rights Project Fellow - In October, three federal judges blocked a Trump administration effort to prevent hard-working, low-income immigrants from getting public assistance. Although the administration has appealed these rulings, this is a win for immigrants, citizens, and the American dream. I am a product of that dream — and of public assistance. In 1975, at age 25, my mother emigrated from the Dominican Republic to the United States. She moved in with relatives in Jamaica, Queens. Her first job was in the garment industry in lower Manhattan, trimming excess thread off clothing. A few months later, Leviton Manufacturing Company hired her to work on an assembly line in Brooklyn. She was a union worker with a steady paycheck, and eventually, rented her own apartment with her sister.
November 14, 2019 | Originally published in the Sacramento Bee
OP-ED: Local governments need to join the fight against Trump’s cruel ‘public charge’ rule
BY DENNIS HERRERA & JILL HABIG SPECIAL TO THE SACRAMENTO BEE - The Administration’s public charge rule establishes new criteria that unlawfully forces residents to choose between support for their families and a path to citizenship. The rule creates negative immigration consequences for residents who use even small amounts of benefits to help support their families. There are currently several lawsuits challenging that rule. In October, three federal judges blocked the rule from taking effect for now. One of those cases is led by the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office and Santa Clara County Counsel’s Office on behalf of municipalities. We are supported by 29 local governments from Texas to the American heartland, organized by Public Rights Project. Eleven California localities, including Sacramento, have joined the coalition.Here’s why local governments are taking up this fight – and winning.
November 7, 2019
GROWING AN EQUITABLE ENFORCEMENT PRACTICE: A GUIDE FOR LOCAL PROSECUTORS TO FIGHT CORPORATE ABUSE
By Public Rights Project - This guide argues that local prosecutors that are charged with ensuring public safety and promoting the health and well-being of their communities can—and should—use their powers to combat corporate lawlessness.
September 30, 2019 | Originally published in the New York Law Journal
OP-ED: WHEN STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL SECRETLY UNDERMINE THEIR OWN LAWS
By LiJia Gong — Some state attorneys general have been filing amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court that fail to disclose how their own state or local laws may be adversely impacted by the Supreme Court’s decision. This practice presents a backdoor way for state attorneys general to undermine or invalidate state laws that have been passed by democratically-elected legislatures—while avoiding political consequences. Local governments—through their district, city, and county attorneys—have been stepping up to fill this void and protect the interests of their communities, and they should continue to do so.
September 18, 2019 | Originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle
OP-ED: MORE CRIMINAL RECORDS SHOULD BE CLEARED AUTOMATICALLY
By Jenny Montoya Tansey — I have a criminal record. I lost a job because of it. Like many of the 70 million Americans with criminal records, I have been penalized long after I did everything the court required to resolve my case. New research by Public Rights Project shows that people with criminal records are more than twice as likely to become victims of corporate abuses like wage theft, predatory lending and unsafe rental housing. Justice does not only mean enacting good policy; it also means getting the implementation and enforcement right.
August 23, 2019 | Originally published on USA Today
OP-ED: CORPORATIONS ARE ABUSING PEOPLE. HERE’S HOW TO BETTER PROTECT WORKERS AND CONSUMERS
By Jill Habig & Rep. Katie Porter (CA-45) — When prosecutors hold corporations accountable for breaking the law, Americans see that the legal system can work for them, not just against them. When people see justice in their lives, they gain trust and confidence in government. The end result is a stronger democracy and more stable economy for everyone.
July 2019
Voices From The Corporate Enforcement Gap: Findings from the first national survey of people who have experienced corporate abuse
By Public Rights Project/David Binder Research — A national study commissioned by Public Rights Project reveals a massive enforcement gap in corporate abuse with 54% of those surveyed saying they have experienced wage theft, predatory lending and debt collection, corporate pollution, and/or unsafe rental conditions at least once in the past 10 years.
April 18, 2019 | Originally published on Take Care
BEYOND RESISTANCE: A GUIDE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO PROTECT THEIR COMMUNITIES
By Jill Habig & Joanna Pearl — “While cases against the Trump Administration like the census matter rightly grab headlines, the next step is for government to expand beyond reacting to the federal government and use their proactive authority to enforce their residents’ legal rights.”
April 17, 2019
LOCAL ACTION, NATIONAL IMPACT: A Practical Guide To Affirmative Litigation For Local Governments
By Justice Catalyst, Public Rights Project, San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, & Yale Law School’s San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project
“We believe cities and counties can do more. And we join the growing chorus of scholars and advocates encouraging city, county, and district attorney’s offices to embrace a broader sense of mission: as not only the attorney for the city or county as an institution, but also as the attorney representing the interests of its residents.”
March 21, 2019 | Originally published on The Daily Journal
OP-ED: ruling a victory in battle for affordable housing
By Jill Habig — “The Ninth Circuit recently upheld a Santa Monica ordinance regulating short-term rental companies. This ruling is a victory not just for Santa Monica, but for cities and localities across the country attempting to combat affordable housing crisis and to make policy decisions that benefit their communities in the age of the internet.”
December 2018 | Published on the Fordham Law Urban Journal: Volume 45, Book 5 “Reimagining Localism (Symposium).”
cities as engines of justice
By Jill Habig & Joanna Pearl — “Having laws on the books provides a deterrent against illegal behavior. But, prohibitions only go so far. Civil law enforcement is essential if our policies are to be a reality for the communities they protect. If the laws passed by our elected representatives are legitimate, we should view enforcement as a necessary corollary to legislative policymaking to ensure compliance with those laws. Indeed, when our laws go unenforced, our democracy cannot function properly.”
Published in the Fall 2018 edition of the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice magazine.”
a new vision for public safety: realigning prosecutorial priorities to fight for residents’ rights
By Jill Habig & Jenny Montoya Tansey — “As a wave of reform-minded prosecutors take office, there is a critical opportunity to leverage this national moment and move beyond reducing aggressive criminal prosecution within vulnerable communities to articulate a bold, proactive vision for prosecutors as protectors of the communities they represent.”
