Fair and Impartial Courts
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people and people living with HIV have turned to the courts to enforce their rights. So it’s essential that our communities get a fair hearing from courts that rule based on the law and a commitment to the constitutional principles supporting equality and fairness. But in recent years, there have been unprecedented, organized efforts to attack the judiciaryJudiciary The federal or state branch of government responsible for upholding the law and constitution and administering courts to decide disputes (more keywords), threatening its ability to uphold the Constitution and calling into question the proper role of the courts. Lambda Legal is educating our communities and allies about the role of the judiciary and its place in the system of checks and balances of our three branches of government. We are working to ensure that our communities play a significant role in national and state-based discussions surrounding these vital issues.
One example of Lambda Legal's advocay on behalf of fair courts is the letter we sent members of the Senate Judiciary Committee expressing concern about Leslie Southwick's nomination to the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. We asked members of the committee to pose certain questions to Judge Southwick in order to determine his ability to be a fair and impartial jurist. Read our letter.
National Context
Since the nation's founding, America's courts have been charged with administering justice, protecting the rights and liberties of citizens, and deepening our understanding of the U.S. Constitution so that all Americans have equal access to the rights outlined in that historic document. But bare-knuckled politics advanced by extremists has threatened the integrity of state supreme court elections, the appointment and retention of fair and impartial judges to the federal courtFederal Court The United States’ national court system, handles civil and criminal cases (more keywords), the general public's understanding of the judiciary's role in American democracy and even the ability of our nation's courts to hear certain cases. These dangerous developments jeopardize the integrity of our judicial system, especially the ability of our courts to protect the constitutional rights of minorities from the political whims of the majority.
Lambda Legal's Impact
Lambda Legal's Fair Courts Project project seeks to educate the LGBT and HIV-affected communities about the proper role of the judiciary, the importance of judicial fairness and the need to encourage people across the nation to take action to support judicial fairness. Fair Courts Project also provides tools and messaging to counter harmful partisan attacks on the courts that threaten LGBT and HIV-related civil rights. The project helps pave the road for Lambda Legal's impact litigationImpact litigation Precedent-setting cases designed to affect large numbers of people and bring about meaningful social change (more keywords), which relies heavily on having unbiased judges in federal and state courts who are accountable to the Constitution and uphold constitutional principles of fairness and equality.
Read about the 40 most important American lawsuits impacting LGBT people and people with HIV.
