We fight against oppression. We stand with social justice activists and communities under threat. We use the power of the law to achieve justice for all.
New York, NY
Joined July 2008
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Breaking! Today, Mahmoud Khalil asked SCOTUS to review his case. The petition challenges the appeal court's ruling—arguing that the federal courts have always had the authority to deem unconstitutional detention by the executive and to order their release.
nytimes.com/2026/10/19/us/po…
We're not giving up the fight.
Today Mahmoud Khalil asked SCOTUS to review the case challenging his detention after the appeals court in January overturned a lower court’s order that released him.
More: bit.ly/mahmoud-petitions-SCO…
More on our case challenging the Trump administration’s sanctions on the ICC.
On October 9, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) itself—the court of last resort for victims of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. This was the latest step in a rolling series of sanctions against individual judges, prosecutors, and human rights actors who have worked for and with the ICC. The Open Society Foundations are fighting the sanctions regime in federal court.
The sanctions are part of an escalating campaign which, as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in July, is intended to “dismantle the ICC—brick by brick, if necessary.”
Already concerned about the sanctions in place since 2025, we, together with the American Friends Service Committee @afsc_org, the Center for Constitutional Rights @theCCR, and Human Rights Watch @hrw, filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York on August 11, 2026. The case argues that the sanctions regime exceeds presidential authority, violates constitutional protections of free expression and association, and is unconstitutionally vague.
The ICC is where victims of the gravest crimes—from Gaza to Ukraine to the Philippines—can turn when their own governments will not act, and where even heads of state can be made to answer. The Trump administration’s sanctions are designed to close that door, and to punish anyone who helps keep it open.
ALT Why We’re Suing to Defend the International Criminal Court
ALT The Trump administration's ICC sanctions have forced us to suspend work with sanctioned partners. We've sued to defend the court—a system of international justice that millions of people around the world count on. Victims of the gravest crimes—from Gaza to Ukraine to the Philippines—can turn to the ICC when their own governments won't act.
ALT The administration is trying to dismantle what took half a century to build. Nearly two-thirds of the world’s governments have joined the court, and its cases span four continents.
ALT "The rule of law rests at the core of what it means to be an open society. It is not coincidental that we are using legal action at a time when courts and judges are under threat. Under the new sanctions, many of the organizations and people who depend on the ICC cannot afford the risk of standing up for it. We can. Justice is a long game, and we will defend the court for as long as it takes." Mariana Pena and Esti Tambay, Open Society Justice Initiative
BREAKING: Trump admin must turn over secret boat strikes memo. This decision ordering in camera review of the memo is a crucial win for transparency and accountability.
ccrjustice.org/home/press-ce…
According to the latest federal monitor report, 13 years after the historic decision that ruled stop and frisk unconstitutional, the NYPD still fails to accurately document Terry stops (i.e. stop and frisk).
"Persistent underreporting reflects an ongoing lack of accountability," reads the report.
Read more on our website: ccrjustice.org/home/press-ce…
Three years into the genocide in Gaza, Netanyahu will duck in and out of the U.S., a wanted criminal and blood-soaked pariah.
What happens if habeas is—de facto—unavailable? That's the question facing detainees at Adams County detention center, where there's a backlog of 800+ cases.
"The government can just take you and detain you and put you in custody without any recourse."
mississippitoday.org/2026/09…
Yesterday our board member, Prof. Noura Erakat, was arrested while joining 100 South Florida residents to give comments against Israel Bonds during the public Palm Beach County Budget hearing.
We stand in solidarity with Prof. Erakat and join her and South Florida residents in calling on Palm Beach County officials to end its $1 billion in Israeli bonds investments—money that is used to murder Palestinians.
Legal Director Baher Azmy in the Boston Review: following 9/11 "the United States’s totalizing military response has never come to an end."
U.S. impunity "paved the way for rank authoritarianism and forever war—all of it enabled by an imperial Supreme Court."
bostonreview.net/articles/sa…
We're hiring!
Donor Relations Officer - apply by 9/22!
Policy Advocacy Associate - apply by 10/6!
Ella Baker Summer Interns - apply by 9/29!
More details on each role and information on how to apply at bit.ly/ccr-jobs.
No phone calls please!
It's been 25 years since 9/11.
25 years of a “war on terror” rooted in white supremacy, patriarchy, colonialism, and Christian nationalism. Every U.S. administration of the last quarter century – Bush, Obama, and Biden – has contributed to a culture of impunity that infects every aspect of public life, and we are all paying the price with the Trump presidency.
ccrjustice.org/home/press-ce…
The sheer speed and impunity with which ICE is abducting and detaining people is overwhelming to the courts and advocates. We must ensure that habeas remains the “swift and flexible” remedy for unlawful detention that it has been for centuries.
propublica.org/article/ice-d…
We've said it before and we'll say it again. These boat strikes are murder, plain and simple. Extrajudicial killing is prohibited under federal law and international human rights law. There is no bona fide armed conflict that could justify these actions.
“The boat strikes are, perhaps, the most stark testament to the lawlessness of the Trump administration.” interc.pt/4yjbwKz
FREE: Join us TOMORROW as we discuss the merger of the war on drugs and the war on terror, and how it's been used to justify abuse of governmental power (including Trump's boat strike murders) while distracting from the gutting of lifesaving public health services.
bit.ly/War-On-Drugs-Sept
As radical and regressive as the Supreme Court’s decision in Cisco is, it will never change this fundamental truth: a jury heard voluminous testimony and unanimously concluded CACI was responsible for the torture and abuse of dozens of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib.
nytimes.com/2026/08/28/us/po…
🚨BREAKING🚨
Amidst reports that the Trump administration has paused visa applications worldwide for a so-called training program, we’ve filed an emergency motion to enforce last week’s judgement that struck down the administration’s “public charge” visa ban.
ccrjustice.org/home/press-ce…
Breaking! In a victory for families and fairness, a federal court yesterday struck down the Trump administration's blanket, nationality-based "public charge" — a racist ban on immigrant visa processing for people from 75 countries.
The illicit ban that was struck down yesterday stripped families and working people of the process guaranteed by the law.
ccrjustice.org/home/press-ce…
Examples of individual plaintiffs include a U.S. citizen mother and grandmother who lives in New York and petitioned on behalf of her four adult children and three grandchildren, who are from Ghana. Though her petitions for her family members were approved and paid for, they were told when they appeared for their consular interviews in January that they could not receive their visas due to the ban.
This case was brought with partners at @LegalAidNYC, @DemocracyFwd, @NILCJusticeFund, @Western_Center!