SOCIAL JUSTICE BLOG
Read and share extraordinary stories from the frontlines of social change
Impact Fund Grantees Combat Injustice & Score Major Victories in 2023
As we approach the end of 2023, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on our grantees’ incredible accomplishments. This year, Impact Fund grantees achieved meaningful change for a wide range of communities experiencing injustice, including incarcerated people, racial justice protesters, mobile home residents, unhoused people, and more. We were honored to help support these cases, which demonstrate how impact litigation can be an effective tool to hold powerful entities accountable.
Housing Not Handcuffs: Victory In Boise Continues to Resonate Nationally
As stories of our country’s failure to adequately address homelessness make national headlines, with incidents like the murder of Jordan Neely on the New York City subway, elected officials are trying to make Americans see things simply, like homelessness as a personal choice, rather than the result of systemic failures. They want to make it a crime to be homeless, with police arresting those who simply don't have a place to live. That's ridiculous, and bad for our whole community. Because no matter your race or background, people don't choose to be homeless, and arresting people experiencing homelessness isn't the answer. The groundbreaking Martin v. Boise case has pushed communities toward the right answer—making sure everyone has a place to call home –since it was decided at the 9thCircuit in 2018.
Sharing Food With The Homeless Is Not A Crime--It's A First Amendment Right
The Court recognized the significance of food sharing throughout history: “Like the flag, the significance of sharing meals with others dates back millennia.” The Court found that Fort Lauderdale Food Not Bombs was clearly engaged in more than a “picnic in a park” and had instead established “an intent to ‘express[] an idea through activity.’” The Court concluded that Fort Lauderdale Food Not Bombs is engaged in protected expression when it shares food outdoors in public parks.