Ali & Lockwood LLP

On October 28, 2024, hearings began in Kansas’ Wyandotte County District Court regarding the constitutionality of the state’s death penalty and its capital jury selection process. A coalition of the ACLU Capital Punishment Project, the ACLU of Kansas, the Kansas Death Penalty Unit, and the law firms Hogan Lovells and Ali & Lockwood LLP brought the challenge. The team argues that the death penalty, which is rarely used in Kansas, is “arbitrary, racially discriminatory, unreliable, and unnecessary” and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of both the state and federal constitutions. The team also characterized as discriminatory the requirement for jurors to be “death-qualified,” or willing to impose a death sentence, to serve on a capital jury.? “Every person accused of a crime is entitled to a fair, impartial jury, but that’s never the reality in capital cases,” said?Cassandra Stubbs, director of the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project. “The evidence is overwhelmingly consistent that Black Kansans are disproportionately disqualified from serving on capital juries. Death qualification, like the death penalty itself, is unconstitutional and undermines justice for everyone. We are committed to ending both.” According to a press release from the ACLU, studies have demonstrated the practice of death qualification often excludes “Black people, women, and those of religious faith,” who often oppose the death penalty. This results in a capital jury that is “whiter, more male, more conviction prone, less likely to debate the evidence, and far more likely to sentence a defendant to death,” rather than a jury of one’s peers, which also contributes to the higher rate of wrongful conviction in capital cases.? For the full article, visit our website. #Kansas #DeathPenalty

?? ?? NEW COMPLAINT. On April 22, 2019, MPD Officer Joseph Lopez chased, tackled, horse-collared, forcibly handcuffed, and arrested Niko Estep, a 9yo Black boy who weighed 70 lbs and stood ~ 4 feet tall, while another MPD officer stood by. Niko was so fearful during the incident that he wet himself. He had to be treated at Children’s Hospital for injuries to his foot, arm, head, back, and wrists. And he was so traumatized that he attempted suicide and had to be hospitalized a few weeks later. Before the incident, Niko was a typical 2nd grader. He loved Spider-Man, climbing trees, video games, playing sports, and spending time with his family. MPD’s abuse of power forever changed him. He stopped wanting to go to school. He was diagnosed with acute PTSD and depression. The trauma was lasting and altered the trajectory of his life; even years later, his family & friends describe “two” Nikos—the boy he was before the incident, and the boy he was after. We have to do better. We have to protect our kids. We should all want a world where our kids can hang out in public spaces with their family and friends without fear of police violence & abuse.

?? ?? We're accepting applications for 2025 summer associates. Our interns work exclusively on the civil rights side of our docket (police misconduct, prisoners' rights, death penalty, other systemic reform litigation) and get lots of opportunities to take ownership of challenging and cutting-edge projects. Plus, you will then forever be a part of our superstar summer intern alumni network, joining the amazing?? Simone Wallk, Annie G., Rachael Maguire, John M. Fossum, and Caroline Kelly. Details here: https://lnkd.in/ewdQhJZ8

We’re proud to represent the American Immigration Council and the National Immigration Project as amici in a Fourth Circuit appeal raising a Batson challenge to the federal government’s peremptory strike of a Nigerian American juror – whose primary language was English and who had lived and worked in the United States for decades – on the basis of his accent. As Justice Marshall predicted (read: warned) when the Court decided Batson in 1986, protection against racial discrimination in jury selection was likely to be "illusory” because it’s so easy for prosecutors to assert facially neutral reasons for jury strikes. That’s what happened here. Accent discrimination is race & national origin discrimination. As we say in the brief: If Batson is to have any meaning, courts must continue to adhere to the Supreme Court’s command in Norris v. Alabama, 294 U.S. 587 (1935), to examine “not merely whether [rights were] denied in express terms but also whether [they were] denied in substance and effect.” Id. at 590. Here, that means acknowledging that exclusion on the basis of accent—where there was no actual communication barrier—amounts to racial and ethnic discrimination, and the government’s asserted justification was a thinly veiled pretext for the same impermissible discrimination. Read the full brief here: https://shorturl.at/pRUts

Two years ago today, we launched this little firm with the hopes of building a docket of cases we were proud of and genuinely excited to wake up and litigate every day. We’re very happy to report that the last ~ 730 days (there was a Leap Year in there) have exceeded even our greatest expectations. And we’re grateful to all of you who have helped turn our leap of faith into a success story. We started essentially from scratch – we had a couple of pro bono cases we carried over but no book of business to speak of – and are proud to have built up a roster of fantastic clients and exactly the kind of docket we hoped for. And we grew our team (we’re now four women strong after bringing on the amazing Meghan Palmer & Kim Saunders), and our capacity to do even more of the work we love. We’ve also been on our feet in court a bunch; have done everything from investigate new cases from the ground up, to filing complaints, to managing major discovery (we’ve left Big Law, yes, but still love a spicy deficiency letter!), to taking and defending a bunch of depositions, to examining nearly a dozen witnesses in evidentiary hearings, to briefing and arguing motions and appeals. And we’re equally proud that we’ve managed to maintain the breathing room to ride our little bikes all over town to meet so many of you for coffees and meals and drinks, have a baby (Liz Lockwood!), go on vacation, and have fun doing what we’re doing (almost) every day.?

Our little firm was a proud sponsor of -- and well represented at -- the ACLU of the District of Columbia Bill of Rights celebration last night -- a great event highlighting great people doing great and important work, and reminding us especially about the importance of lifting up the voices of students and young people. It can be easy to feel hopeless in the face of an onslaught of injustice, but we're feeling a renewed energy to keep fighting for our clients and the bedrock rights and liberties our country was founded on. Onward!

Thanks to the Charlotte Observer for covering our suit against Wellpath, Rowan County, and others for their egregious failures to provide medical care to our client, Ryan Wood, while he was in their custody and care. Ryan complained every day for months about the worst headache of his life. Jail records show him *begging* for care --often 2-3x a day -- as he lost 30 pounds, started to lose his hearing and his vision, and rapidly decompensated. Wellpath and jail staff ignored him. By the time he finally saw a doctor, he had to be rushed to the hospital for emergency brain surgery. His life will never be the same. Medical care in most jails and prisons is a horror show. As has been documented by journalists (and lawyers) across the country, Wellpath prioritizes profits at the expense of people like Ryan. They must be held to account. https://lnkd.in/dTf7DDXG You can read our complaint here:?https://rb.gy/ltx8i5