Strategic Criminal Litigation
The Promise of Justice Initiative uses strategic litigation to identify and expose systemic flaws in the criminal legal system and works to educate the public on how deeply unjust, arbitrary, and needlessly costly to the public its punishments can be. PJI works to challenge excessive sentencing schemes and right past harms that have condemned our clients to decades or lifetimes in prison. We challenge our clients’ convictions and sentences based on actual innocence, excessive sentencing, and/or flawed legal processes.
Strategic Criminal Litigation Cases:
Louisiana v. Derrick L. Harris: Challenging Habitual Offender Laws
Louisiana v. Edna Gibson: Challenging Unjust Sentencing Laws
Louisiana v. Williams: When the State Fails to Protect Minors with Disabilities
Criminal Justice in Louisiana
We are dedicated to dismantling the system of inequality and harm in Louisiana. Louisiana is a hotbed of inequality and racism in the U.S. criminal justice system. Draconian sentencing often based on race and class is rampant, along with prosecutorial misconduct. Louisiana has the highest wrongful conviction rate in the country and has sentenced more innocent people to death than any other state. Since 1973, at least 164 people nationwide have been released after evidence revealed that they were sentenced to die for crimes they did not commit. In Louisiana alone, 148 years were taken from innocent people who were wrongfully sentenced to death.
Recent News:
Amicus Briefs:
