SOCIAL JUSTICE BLOG
Read and share extraordinary stories from the frontlines of social change
Hawaiʻi Youth Achieve Climate Justice Victory
For many, Hawaiʻi means a vacation filled with relaxation, pristine warm beaches, and an escape from the stress of our daily lives; a time to enjoy all the beauty the islands have to offer. But for those who live in Hawaiʻi, there is no denying the realities of how climate change is affecting the islands and changing the environmental landscape. These changes motivated thirteen youth from across the Hawaiian Islands to act and hold their government accountable for actively contributing to the climate crisis. With strong constitutional and statutory provisions, as well as their desire to protect their lives and the islands that they love, the youth plaintiffs were set up for success in the courts.
Impact Fund Grantees Combat Injustice & Score Major Victories in 2023
As we approach the end of 2023, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on our grantees’ incredible accomplishments. This year, Impact Fund grantees achieved meaningful change for a wide range of communities experiencing injustice, including incarcerated people, racial justice protesters, mobile home residents, unhoused people, and more. We were honored to help support these cases, which demonstrate how impact litigation can be an effective tool to hold powerful entities accountable.
Whistleblower Law, Impact Litigation, and the Potential for Social Justice
Whistleblower law remains fairly limited in who it can help—protecting federal employees and employees of federal contractors or grantees. For most cases to qualify as whistleblower cases, the case must include some aspect of fraud and public funding. Therefore, if there happened to be wrongdoing by a company that was privately owned and received no public money or tax incentives, then it would be unlikely that the case could be brought under any of the whistleblower programs.
Winning in Environmental Litigation: Outlast the Polluters to Defend the Environment
The PolyMet/Glencore copper-nickel sulfide mine is a dangerous project and a formidable adversary. This mine would be located in the headwaters of the St. Louis River, the largest U.S. tributary to Lake Superior, upstream of the Fond du Lac Reservation and Minnesota’s third largest city, Duluth. The PolyMet/Glencore mine would destroy more than 1,000 acres of wetlands¾the largest wetlands destruction ever approved in the history of our U.S. Army Corps region. The project would release sulfate and toxic metals into waters already impaired due to mercury, contaminating drinking water, decimating wild rice, and increasing toxic mercury contamination of fish. Unfortunately, the Minnesota Legislature has taken PolyMet’s side for more than a decade, sweeping away laws that would pose hurdles in permitting and spending millions in taxpayer funds for outside mining-industry lawyers to represent the agencies granting PolyMet permits.
Impact Fund Grant Program: COVID-19 Response
To best help grantees and applicants adapt to the evolving legal landscape with COVID-19 related cases, we will; increase availability of rapid response grants, fast track urgent requests and streamline requests for expense type adjustments.