This month, we joined the nation in watching the events of the trial for George Floyd's killer unfold—a powerful reminder of the disproportionate impact police and other forces and institutions have on BIPOC communities, and that black lives matter today and every day.

George Floyd—and countless others who have been unjustly killed by police brutality—should still be alive today. Justice means more than one verdict, and while this trial's outcome was a victory in accountability, we still have so much more work to do in combatting this nation's deeply rooted hate and racism that exists and remains prevalent in our society every single day.

"True justice for George Floyd, Daunte Wright, Adam Toledo, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Tony McDade would mean each of those individuals was alive with us today."

Read our full statement regarding Tuesday's verdict here. As a legal organization that is committed to empowering those who are repeatedly disenfranchised and treated unjustly, our work in dismantling systemic racism is more important than ever. From calling for an end to qualified immunity to advocating for leaders who will help champion a future that promises racial justice and equality, our work is not over until we have achieved justice for all. Thank you for joining us in this essential work.

"We must be agents of change and we must all, each and every day, call out what we see and seek, together, to fix it."

Public Justice's Food Project was hard at work this month, advocating for workers' rights and protections, as well as calling on the Biden Administration to commit to its promise in supporting rural communities.

On April 6, we joined 25 ally organizations to file a petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, calling for the Biden EPA to regulate the industrial dairy and hog operations and hold them accountable for their harmful contributions to air and climate pollution. The petition also calls on the EPA to reject factory farm gas, a technology branded as "biogas" by industrial agribusiness and Big Oil & Gas that only serves to entrench the power of those two industries at the expense of Black, Brown, Indigenous & white rural communities and further harm our air, land, and water.

"Americans deserve clean air and water, a stable climate, and to live in healthy and sustainable communities," the petitioners said. "The EPA has the duty and authority to regulate these methane super-emitters under the Clean Air Act as part of the Administration's larger strategy to prevent catastrophic and irreversible climate change."

View the petition here.

Our Seneca Falls Fellow Adrienne Spiegel recently published an op-ed for The Advocate, detailing our work in supporting transgender youth and illustrating how institutional rejection and anti-trans bills are harming trans kids:

"These cruel efforts share a source. A coalition of conservative policy hubs drafted ready-made bills as part of a national strategy to keep the so-called “culture wars” alive. In a twisted bit of irony, trans people give conservatives something to believe in. The twist, of course, is that conservatives don’t believe in trans people. The joke’s on the lawmakers in the end, since denying reality won’t change it. The Earth orbits the sun; our climate is changing; trans people will persevere. But official denial will cause grievous harm.

At Public Justice, we are intimately familiar with what happens when institutions disbelieve young people. It’s the standard response school districts give student-survivors of sexual harassment and violence, whom we represent. School boards and elected officials are charged with protecting young people and helping them thrive. When these institutions instead doubt them and punish them for things they could not control, young people suffer. Survivors of sexual assault often experience this as a second trauma, an institutional betrayal that refracts the initial betrayal of assault. What’s more, institutional rejection emboldens assailants, fueling further harassment. Harm compounds harm. Our clients have experienced depression, anxiety, self-harm, diminished academic engagement and performance, and suicide.

Although directed at a particular subset of young people, institutional rejection harms everyone. It sends the message that young people are not reliable narrators of their own lives. We believe they are. Or at least, they are as reliable as any of us can be about ourselves. All young people — trans, cis, nonbinary, queer, survivor — have an equal claim to their own self-knowledge. We believe them. We support them. We will continue to fight for them."

View the full op-ed here.

On April 19, we filed a motion to intervene on behalf of a coalition of businesses from across the rural west to help defend President Biden's landmark January executive order that paused leasing of public lands for fossil fuel extraction.

Oil and gas corporations have challenged the leasing pause order, which is part of President Biden's efforts to address the climate crisis and will facilitate a comprehensive and long-overdue review of the federal oil and gas leasing program by the Department of the Interior.

"My company and its reputation depend on public lands, their wide open spaces, clean air and clean water,” said Kathryn Bedell, operator of Roan Creek Ranch, which is one of the businesses intervening in the challenge. “Oil and gas leasing and development contributes to regional air pollution and polluted water sources."

View the press release and intervention here.

On April 15, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration reached a full month after the deadline in which it was supposed to have issued an Emergency Temporary Standard.

More than a year into the pandemic, workers are still dying from COVID-19. Yet OSHA refuses to protect workers from the virus. When President Biden took office, he ordered OSHA to review the need for an ETS that would require all employers to implement basic COVID safety protections. In response to the agency's lack of action after a full month past the deadline, we released a statement calling on OSHA to issue an ETS immediately.

"The ETS would save lives. It would provide employers, the government, and workers clear guidelines for workplace safety during the pandemic. The standard would make it easier for workers to advocate for their rights through the civil justice system and hold accountable employers who refuse to provide basic protections [...] All workers should be safe at work, and there is no replacement for workplace safety standards. Public Justice urges OSHA to swiftly issue and enforce an ETS."

View the full statement here.

Our Spring Phonathon is right around the corner on Thursday, May 6!

Please contact Membership Manager Megan Kyte at [email protected] for more information. 

Join us Wednesday, July 21, 2021, at 7 pm ET as we celebrate and honor changemakers from across the country including the 2021 Champion of Justice Award-Winner, Trial Lawyer of the Year Finalists & Winner, Public Justice President Eric L. Cramer, and more!

Sponsorship opportunities are now available by clicking here. For more information contact Susan Gombert, Senior Meetings & Events Manager at [email protected] or (703) 517-6418.

Public Justice welcomes this month's new members—your unwavering commitment to our mission to combat injustice helps us reach our goals.

Questions? Contact us at [email protected].