Impact Fund Grant Recipient Tackles a Hot Topic in Criminal Law: Criminal Justice Debt
July 24, 2014 – In Lamar County, Texas, indigent defendants are routinely ordered to make pretrial payments toward the cost of appointed counsel without the court first reviewing evidence of the defendants’ ability to make those payments. These orders do not limit pretrial payments to the actual cost to the county of appointed counsel and it appears that defendants regularly make payments to the county in excess of the cost of counsel. Frequently, defendants are charged a second time for the cost of appointed counsel upon conviction…
California Supreme Court Decides Salas, Ayala, and Iskanian
June 2014 – Every year, the Impact Fund files amicus or “friend of the court” briefs in cases affecting impact litigation or civil rights enforcement. In June, the California Supreme Court issued rulings in three important cases in which we filed amicus briefs. The cases are Salas v. Sierra Chemical Co., Ayala v. Antelope Valley Press, and Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC…
District Court Grants Final Approval of Proposed Settlement in Costco Gender Discrimination Class Action
May 27, 2014 – The district court granted final approval of the parties’ proposed class action settlement. Class members have until July 26, 2014 to file settlement claims. If you are a member of the class and have questions, visit genderclassactionagainstcostco.com or call 1-866-501-2300…