Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and 11 Other Civil Rights Organizations Amicus Brief
Amici are the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonprofit organization created in 1963 to combat racism and vindicate civil rights through litigation, and 11 other civil rights organizations.
The brief explains that Section 1983 offers relief in federal court to anyone deprived of a federal right by anyone acting under the color of state law. In this way, Section 1983 opened the federal courts to individuals seeking to secure their rights in the face of resistant states. Amici argue that states should not be allowed to circumvent Section 1983’s promise of accountability by delegating enforcement of unconstitutional schemes to private parties – exactly what Texas’s scheme sets out to do. Further, amici demonstrate, through examples of current Section 1983 litigation, the harms that would flow and the range of rights that would be at risk if the S.B. 8 enforcement model were upheld and copied by other states. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is pro bono counsel.
This brief was filed in support of Whole Woman’s Health et. al. v. Jackson et. al. the Center’s lawsuit at the U.S. Supreme Court challenging Texas’s abortion ban (S.B. 8).