The Fourth Amendment is supposed to protect people from unreasonable searches and seizures, yet Supreme Court precedent has eroded this right over the years. By relying on vague factors...
Read MoreThe PJC seeks high court's review of decision barring discrimination victims from challenging the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights' decisions in appellate courts
Read MoreMaryland has the strongest medical debt consumer protection policies in the country, according to the Medical Debt Policy Scorecard developed by Innovation for Justice. This social justice innovation lab...
Read MoreA recent ruling in a bankruptcy case will help ensure that employers cannot use bankruptcy proceedings to dodge certain debts, including wages that they failed to pay employees. The...
Read MoreThe Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland recently honored Public Justice Center attorney Ronnie Reno with the Retired Pro Bono Volunteer Maryland Pro Bono Service Award. The award is...
Read MoreThe award recognizes the work of the PJC and Murphy Anderson in partnership with the Washington Lawyers’ Committee in settling a case alleging unpaid wages and employment discrimination against...
Read MoreAdvocacy in Annapolis is always a cross between a sprint and a marathon, and this year's session of the Maryland General Assembly was no exception. Together with coalition partners,...
Read MoreThe report provides an overview of the devastating, long-lasting consequences of eviction and considers evidence on providing legal representation as a way to reduce evictions and help mitigate these...
Read MoreJudges have a responsibility to uphold equal justice under the law and ensure that their biases do not get in the way of making a fair decision. Yet racist...
Read MoreThis month, the New Orleans and Detroit City Councils passed legislation to ensure a right to an attorney in eviction cases, making them the 17th and 18th jurisdictions to...
Read MoreThe report analyzed 2019 data of bail hearings and case outcomes. It suggests that holding people pretrial does not actually enhance public safety and calls for an examination of...
Read MoreNow is the time for the Maryland General Assembly to ensure fair hearings for renters facing eviction. We call on House leadership to bring #HousingVotesNow with enough time to...
Read MoreThe PJC and other health advocates are advocating for HB 694, which would require the Health Services Cost Review Commission, in coordination with the Department of Human Services, the...
Read MoreRead this op-ed in Maryland Matters.
Read MoreThe PJC’s Health Rights Project supports policies and practices that promote the overall health of Marylanders struggling to make ends meet, with the explicit goal of eliminating racial and...
Read MoreWhen the Public Justice Center and allies successfully advocated to strengthen Baltimore’s rental licensing and inspection law a few years ago, the message was clear: landlords who do not...
Read MoreTell legislators to vote "yes" on Kwamena's Law and expand police body-worn camera use to include plainclothes officers, armed off-duty officers, and municipal police departments.
Read MoreThe General Assembly is fast approaching Crossover Day, which means renters and advocates for stable housing are running out of time for key #MDHousingJustice bills to move forward!
Read MoreTODAY, the House Judiciary and Senate Judicial Proceedings Committees MUST hold a vote on these priority bills for lower-income workers and job seekers. Contact the Committee Members and urge...
Read MoreHouse Bill 613 aims to double mandatory state funding for school policing from $10 million to $20 million per year. Yet, the data shows that the school policing model...
Read MoreThe Public Justice Center joins the End Medical Debt Maryland coalition in advocating for HB 694/SB 944.
Read MoreThe Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee is scheduled to vote on SB 31 first thing on the morning of Friday, February 4.
Read MoreOn January 24, Jeniece Jones, MPA, JD, became the new Executive Director of the Public Justice Center – a local and national leader in public interest law reform that...
Read MoreThe 2022 Maryland legislative session is in full swing! In the coming weeks, we'll spotlight a few of the bills we're working on to promote economic justice and race...
Read MoreThe Task Force made eight key recommendations in the areas of outreach and education, program design and implementation, program assessment and evaluation, and program funding.
Read MoreHighlights and reflections on Sally Dworak-Fisher’s 20 years at the Public Justice Center
Read MoreWe are saddened by the passing of former Maryland Attorney General and U.S. Attorney Stephen Sachs. After he “retired” from public office and private practice, his work as a...
Read MorePublic Justice Center Executive Director John Nethercut will retire from the organization on January 23, 2022, after serving in the role since 2002. With his leadership, the Public Justice...
Read MoreWhat does a bankruptcy lawsuit have to do with workers’ rights? More than you might think. When workers successfully sue their employer for unpaid wages, one of the ways...
Read MoreThe Maryland Court of Appeals’ 2020 ruling was clear: homeowners’ associations (HOAs) cannot use confessed judgments to collect debt from homeowners. Yet nearly two years later, HOAs continue to...
Read MoreOn November 24, 2021, six Marylanders filed suit in federal court on behalf of themselves and others like them against the state Secretary of Labor, Tiffany Robinson in her...
Read MoreA group of Marylanders filed a lawsuit against the Maryland Department of Labor’s Secretary, Tiffany Robinson, seeking to require Secretary Robinson to correct Maryland’s gross and systemic failures to...
Read MoreWe're dedicating #GivingTuesday 2021 - November 30 - to a celebration of nine courageous clients and seven outstanding partners.
Read MoreThis month we say farewell to Juan Carlos Silen, who has served as a housing attorney at the Public Justice Center. We are grateful for his work with Baltimore...
Read MoreCourt of Special Appeals ruling requires the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office to release its “Do Not Call” list of police with known credibility issues.
Read MoreIf your employer forced you to wait for up to two hours to ride a bus to and from a parking lot, but didn’t pay you for your travel...
Read MoreA Justice for Breakfast conversation on advocacy to maintain access to critical federal unemployment insurance benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic
Read MoreCourt sends strong message that providing an interpreter to people with limited English proficiency is essential to ensuring asylum applicants receive due process.
Read MoreJustice for Breakfast discussion - September 2021. Presentation by Maria Roumiantseva, Associate Coordinator, National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel
Read MoreThe PJC, Murphy Anderson, and the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs announce that they have settled case alleging unpaid wages and employment discrimination against a...
Read MoreIn this op-ed, PJC attorney Sally Dworak-Fisher and Legal Director Debra Gardner call for Maryland to adopt a fee-shifting statute to level the playing field and help ensure justice...
Read MoreOver the past year, we have been fortunate to have Olivia Sedwick on staff as the Francis D. Murnaghan, Jr. Appellate Advocacy Fellow. Olivia has made significant contributions to...
Read MoreThank you to the many law firms and individual lawyers who join the Public Justice Center in building just and equitable communities. Through your donations to our 2020-2021 Law...
Read MoreThe Public Justice Center and Coalition for a Safe and Just Maryland submit recommendations to the Maryland Judiciary Committee on Equal Justice
Read MoreWe were fortunate to have Aaron Frazee as a paralegal in our Human Right to Housing Project this year through Jesuit Volunteer Corps. As he prepares to begin law...
Read MoreOver the past year, we were lucky to have Bethany Straus at the PJC as a legal assistant in our Education Stability Project. As a member of Episcopal Service...
Read MoreMarylanders will continue to receive federal pandemic unemployment benefits through September 6, thanks to a preliminary injunction issued by Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Fletcher-Hill.
Read MoreJuly 6 update: The Court of Appeals dismissed the Governor’s Petition for Certiorari, leaving the Circuit Court’s injunction in place and maintaining federal unemployment insurance benefits.
Read MoreSix Marylanders filed a lawsuit against Governor Larry Hogan and Maryland Secretary of Labor Tiffany Robinson on June 30, 2021, to halt the state’s early exit from federal pandemic...
Read MoreMothers will soon have greater access to critical support as they welcome a new child, with Maryland set to join a handful of states in providing Medicaid reimbursement for...
Read MoreWith 147,000 renter households in Maryland now facing eviction for non-payment of rent – an increase of over 25,000 families from census data six weeks prior – the CDC’s...
Read MoreCourt of Appeals holds that someone seeking to take possession of a home can’t legally try to intimidate residents into giving it up, even if they fail to push...
Read MoreThe stakes for the Maryland General Assembly are always high. The bills legislators pass (and fail to pass) have the power to make Marylanders’ lives better or worse, affecting...
Read MoreListen in to learn about Hepatitis C in Maryland, our advocacy in coalition with other advocates to expand access to Hepatitis C treatment in Medicaid, and the work that...
Read MoreSenate Bill 384 and House Bill 652 will create a guidance document to educate home care agencies about their legal responsibility to properly classify their employees and require agency...
Read MoreWe’re excited to share that the Medical Debt Protection Act passed the Maryland General Assembly in March and is headed for the Governor’s desk. The bill is a strong...
Read MoreJun Yu was a doctoral candidate in the clinical psychology program at Idaho State University. After graduating, he planned to return home to China to work as a clinical...
Read MoreThe PJC is advocating for the Re-Imagining School Safety package of legislation currently before the Maryland General Assembly. These two bills would get police out of schools and reinvest...
Read MoreThe 2021 session of the Maryland General Assembly has begun! In the coming weeks, PJC advocates and allies be calling on lawmakers to pass legislation that promotes housing justice,...
Read MoreOver the past year, we were fortunate to have Kelly Webber at the PJC as a paralegal through Episcopal Service Corps. Working with our Education Stability Project, she developed...
Read MoreWe were fortunate to have Beck Sigman as a paralegal in our Human Right to Housing Project last year through Jesuit Volunteer Corps. With one semester of law school...
Read MoreCOVID-19 has caused significant disruption in the civil justice system and exacerbated economic and racial inequities. For over six months, the Maryland Attorney General's COVID-19 Access to Justice Task...
Read MoreThe federal CARES Act provides an “above-the-line” tax deduction for up to $300 of charitable donations made in 2020. For people who itemize their taxes, the law also raises...
Read MoreThe General Assembly session will convene January 13th, so let’s start by letting our lawmakers know that we need them to act to get police out of our schools,...
Read MoreIn a recent amicus brief, the PJC and allies argued that when a formerly unlicensed landlord sues to evict their tenant based on back rent, the court should credit...
Read MoreWe are advocating for MOSH to take a more active role in investigating the hundreds of complaints it receives, and in the wake of COVID-19, to develop and adopt...
Read MoreThis fall, we said thank you and farewell to 2019-2020 Murnaghan Appellate Advocacy Fellow Dena Robinson. During her year at the PJC, Dena’s advocacy spanned a variety of cases...
Read MoreBaltimore's new right to counsel in eviction law will help families remain in their homes and have their voices and concerns heard and addressed through the court system.
Read MoreCongratulations to the PJC clients and partners honored with the 2020 John P. Sarbanes Courage Awards and Outstanding Partner Awards! The Courage Awards honor clients and others who exhibit...
Read MoreBrief challenges ruling from the Court of Special Appeals, arguing that threats of eviction like the ones Selene Finance made are violations of the law as its plain language...
Read MoreOn November 16, the Baltimore City Council UNANIMOUSLY passed CB 20-0625, which would make Baltimore City the 7th jurisdiction in the nation to provide renters a right to counsel...
Read MoreToday, Monday, November 16, the Baltimore City Council will vote on Council Bill 20-0625 and decide whether Baltimore City will become the 7th jurisdiction in the country to establish...
Read MoreWe’re glad to see members of Maryland’s congressional delegation urging Governor Larry Hogan to strengthen COVID-19 protections for workers. In a recent letter, they called on the Governor to...
Read MoreWatch the recording of our virtual Justice for Breakfast on pandemic, pretrial detention, and police reform: advocating for criminal "justice" reform.
Read MoreWe are proud to stand with our community partners to highlight the importance of police-free schools to make schools a safer environment for ALL students.
Read MoreAmicus brief explores how trauma and implicit bias affect immigration judges’ decisions.
Read MoreTell your Baltimore City Councilmember to support a right to counsel in eviction cases! The right to an attorney in evictions is guaranteed in several U.S. cities, including New...
Read MoreBusinesses should protect essential food and farm workers from COVID-19, yet many deny their workforce basic health and safety protections.
Read MoreSupport a recommendation to get police out of schools, and to reinvest the $10 million a year Maryland spends on school police in student mental health services, restorative practices,...
Read MoreTisha Guthrie of Baltimore Renters United and the Bolton House Tenants' Association and PJC attorney Charisse Lue call on the state of Maryland to enact a broad eviction moratorium...
Read MoreFormer Raven Adalius Thomas calls for replacing school police with trauma-informed practices, social emotional learning and restorative approaches to make school safer for kids.
Read MoreIt has been mere months since people across the country condemned the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others, and here we are again.
Read MoreWatch the recording of our virtual Justice for Breakfast on evictions, due process, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read MoreIf your employer forced you to wait for up to two hours to ride a bus to and from a parking lot, but didn’t pay you for your travel...
Read MoreWith deep sadness, we share that our colleague Levern Blackmon passed away on August 8. Levern assisted thousands of tenants fighting eviction and demanding safe housing conditions in his...
Read MoreOn August 4, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit soundly rejected the White House’s recent attempt to expand the “public charge” rule to subject a broad...
Read MoreThis month, the PJC and fellow members of the Maryland Education Coalition sent a letter to State Superintendent Karen Salmon urging the Maryland State Department of Education to incorporate...
Read MoreIn recent days, we have lost many great Black advocates for racial justice. In Baltimore, we mourn the passing of Avis Ransom, a leader of Baltimore Racial Justice Action,...
Read MoreAmerican workers have steadily become more productive over the past 50 years - generating ever increasing profits for their companies - only to be rewarded with an equally steady...
Read MoreMaryland has failed to live up to the promise of the 2017 bail reforms, with nearly the same number of people held in jail pretrial today as were before...
Read MoreWe’re proud to be part of the new People’s Commission to Decriminalize Maryland. The Commission was created to reduce the disparate impact of the justice system on youth and...
Read MoreNow is the time for us to commit to winning five impactful police reforms that will make a real difference statewide. Will you take a few seconds to show...
Read MoreOnly 23 days remain until evictions start in Maryland — in the middle of a pandemic!
Read MoreThe Public Justice Center joined over 60 organizations from across the state in calling for Maryland legislators to pass impactful police reforms
Read MoreThe Public Justice Center will be closed on Juneteenth (June 19, 2020) for a day of celebration, reflection, and learning. We have compiled this list of Juneteenth events and...
Read MoreGeorge Floyd. Manuel Ellis. Tony McDade. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery. Nina Pop. We say their names and the names of so many other Black people murdered because of the...
Read MoreWhile the 2020 session of the Maryland General Assembly ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we still achieved victories that will benefit tenants, workers, and women of color...
Read MoreOur homes are our castles -- the spaces where we can unwind, be ourselves, and have safety and comfort. But because of our country's long history of oppression, the...
Read MoreEven before COVID-19, Baltimore’s eviction rate was high – nearly 2.5 times the national average. The pandemic is expected to multiply these numbers, as lost jobs and medical expenses...
Read MoreThere is a narrow and rapidly closing window of time to protect the health, safety, and lives of hundreds of persons detained at Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center....
Read MoreA pair of newly published reports find drastic racial and gender disparities in Baltimore evictions and show that an annual investment of $5.7 million in a right to counsel...
Read MoreNo landlord needs to charge late fees and increase the rent in the middle of a pandemic. Yet, we know that they are – even when renters have told...
Read MoreThe PJC, ACLU-MD, and HPRP called on Governor Larry Hogan to immediately allocate $153 million in Maryland’s share of federal relief funds to rental assistance and eviction prevention and...
Read MoreOnce inside a detention facility, COVID-19 can move fast, infecting prisoners, correctional officers, and others who work there. Social distancing is nearly impossible in such confined spaces...
Read MoreIn an important victory for police accountability, the Court of Appeals of Maryland unanimously ruled that Baltimore City and the Baltimore City Police Department are liable for the misconduct...
Read MoreThis week, the Public Justice Center and allies sent a letter to Governor Larry Hogan, calling on him to take urgent action to address racial disparities in Maryland’s COVID-19...
Read MoreWith the spread of COVID-19, people face growing barriers to supporting their families and staying healthy: layoffs as businesses close, landlords who are threatening tenants with eviction and...
Read MoreCourt of Appeals rules that tenants have the right to seek a reduction in the rent and withhold rent if the landlord fails to fix unsafe conditions and that...
Read MoreThis week, the Public Justice Center sent a letter to Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, calling on him to better protect workers, tenants, and people experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19...
Read MoreSign this letter to Governor Hogan and urge him to take action to protect vulnerable people in Maryland’s prisons and jails from the coronavirus and the effects of the...
Read MoreWhen Kelvin Sewell was the police chief of Pocomoke City, Maryland, he asked the Office of the State Prosecutor (OSP) to look into threats and harassment against Black police...
Read MoreHave you ever seen signs around Baltimore urging recipients of settlement payments for lead poisoning to “GET CASH NOW”? Behind the signs was an industry that targeted Baltimore residents...
Read MoreA federal district judge in Baltimore, Maryland, today issued an opinion regarding two motions in Baylor et al. v. Homefix Remodeling Corp. et al. The Court conditionally certified a...
Read MoreUrge your legislators to pass SB 914/HB 1067 so that Maryland can expand access to doula care and eliminate racial disparities in birth outcomes!
Read MoreCall your Delegates now! The Maryland HOME Act, HB 231, passed the House Environment and Transportation Committee last Thursday in a bipartisan vote. The bill is now headed to...
Read MorePublic benefits provide important support that help people achieve self-sufficiency. But the Trump administration chooses to base its policies on myths about people who use public benefits.
Read MoreThe Maryland HOME Act, SB 530, passed the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee last Friday and is headed to the Senate floor! SB 530, which would ban housing discrimination based...
Read MoreSB 530, which would ban housing discrimination statewide based on source of income, is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee this Friday, February 14!
Read MoreOn January 28, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Commission approved the plan of the Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development to designate $4 million for community land...
Read MoreImagine that a creditor told the court that you owed them a debt, and the court went ahead and allowed the creditor to start taking your money before giving...
Read MoreIn a significant victory for consumers, the Court of Appeals of Maryland ruled this month that lawyers and law firms that collect debts on behalf of their clients are...
Read MoreTell your legislators to urge them to vote green in support of #SecondChances. This morning, the Maryland General Assembly will vote to override Governor Hogan’s veto of Senate Bill...
Read MoreThe 2020 Maryland legislative session is in full swing, and you're invited to join us in raising our voices for justice! Our communities are strongest when all people have...
Read MoreWho polices the police? This is the question facing the Maryland Court of Appeals as it considers who is responsible for the crimes of the Baltimore City Police Department’s...
Read MoreThis fall we were sad to learn that fellow advocacy organization Consumer Health First (CHF) would be closing its doors. CHF has long been an ally of the Public...
Read MoreWhen Robel Bing applied for a job as a customer care representative at Brivo Systems, things looked promising. His application passed the initial screening, the interview went well, and...
Read MoreCan we count on your support for #GivingTuesday on December 3? Put your commitment to justice to work and give back this #GivingTuesday!
Read MoreOn Monday, November 18, the Baltimore City Council passed the Water Affordability and Equity Act. This is a big win for Baltimore City homeowners and renters alike. As water...
Read MoreYou’ve come to the right place…the Public Justice Center has a new look that reflects our commitment to building a just society.
Read MoreThe Baltimore County Council passed the HOME Act, which will stop landlords from discriminating based on a tenant’s “source of income.”
Read MorePJC brief argues courts should consider plaintiffs’ vulnerabilities when approving settlement agreements.
Read MorePJC attorney Sally Dworak-Fisher testified before a U.S. House subcommittee to educate lawmakers about the continued importance of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s crucial protections, and the need to...
Read MoreEarlier this month, 2018-2019 PJC Murnaghan Fellow Ejaz Baluch, Jr., presented oral argument before the Maryland Court of Appeals on behalf of David and Tammy Mills, homeowners who found...
Read MoreA little over a year ago, we received a call from a Baltimore County parent concerned that the school district had forced her daughter to transfer to an alternative...
Read MoreBack in March, home care workers Pamela Holden and April Wright sued their employer, Bwell Healthcare, Inc. for failing to pay overtime or travel time between clients’ homes. When...
Read MoreThis Friday, six paratransit and medical transportation drivers and a dispatcher filed suit for unpaid wages in federal court against Transdev Services, Inc. The plaintiffs’ complaint alleges that they...
Read MoreUsing terms like “hush money” and “the government’s purchase of a potential critic’s silence,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit condemned as unconstitutional Baltimore City’s practice*...
Read MoreWhen Deputy Nicholas Kehagias showed up at John Livingston’s door, Mr. Livingston asked if he had a warrant. The deputy didn’t, and Mr. Livingston refused to let him in....
Read MoreThank you! Maryland’s 2019 legislative session came to a close on April 8. Your support allowed us to advocate for the right to healthcare, restorative approaches to discipline to...
Read MoreBALTIMORE – Four former employees of Homefix filed a collective- and class-action lawsuit on Wednesday, April 24, against the home remodeling company, the 18th largest in the nation, for...
Read MoreWe’re excited to announce that Baltimore Acting Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young today signed legislation that prohibits landlords from discriminating against tenants based on their source of income (SOI)....
Read MoreLast week, former employees of several restaurants owned and operated under the name of “Mo’s” or “Mo’s Seafood” settled a lawsuit for unpaid wages against the seafood chain and...
Read MoreA lawsuit filed in July 2017 seeking to hold the Baltimore City Police Department accountable for unlawfully arresting and detaining 65 people at a peaceful protest held during the...
Read MoreThis month, the Public Justice Center and allies in the Baltimore Housing Roundtable, United Workers, and Housing for All Coalition reached an agreement with Baltimore City leaders to significantly...
Read MoreWhen landlords believe that tenants have violated their lease and want to evict them before the end of a lease term, Maryland law has rules they must follow. These...
Read MoreIt was a hot summer day when the nursing home staffer loaded a woman with severe dementia into a car. But this was no community outing to the beach....
Read MoreMore Marylanders will now be able to earn sick leave, thanks to this week’s veto override of the Healthy Working Families Act. Today the Maryland Senate voted 30-17 to...
Read MoreImagine this: you’re reviewing your paystub and something doesn’t look quite right. With a little digging, you discover that a debt buyer is garnishing your wages. Unbeknownst to you,...
Read MoreEmployers will no longer be able to skirt their responsibilities to employees through layers of subcontracting, thanks to a recent ruling from the Court of Appeals for the Fourth...
Read MoreU.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander today approved the settlement agreement in Duvall v. Hogan, the class-action suit on behalf of detainees in the Baltimore City Detention Center. The...
Read MoreBaltimore Neighborhoods Inc., the NAACP of Baltimore Co., three residents of Baltimore Co. and the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development have signed an agreement with Baltimore Co....
Read MoreBALTIMORE, MD – Baltimore City tenants have settled a class-action lawsuit against rental management company Sage Management, LLC, fourteen months after asserting that the landlord engaged in the anti-consumer...
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