Systemic racism permeates every level of the American legal system, and We The Action’s lawyers work every day to bridge the access to justice gap for underrepresented communities, including communities of color. In all, more than 200 lawyers signed up for Racial Justice projects this year.
For instance, since partnering with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition in 2020, more than 500 We The Action volunteers have researched more than 20,000 cases for Floridians with previous felony convictions to help them restore their voting rights. WTA even hosted a research-a-thon that recruited 50 lawyers from 17 states to complete research for more than 150 returning citizens in a single day!
Spotlight on: Jeff Nesvet
A retired lawyer from Maryland, Jeff has donated hundreds of hours since 2019 to Tzedek DC, a DC-based nonprofit safeguarding the legal rights of low-income DC residents dealing with often unjust, abusive, and illegal debt collection practices. Namely, Jeff has helped challenge the “Clean Hands Law,” a DC policy that exacerbates racial inequalities by automatically suspending the driver's license of people with unpaid traffic tickets without considering the person’s ability to pay and bars them from renewing their license until all fines are paid. In a city where the median income for a white household is more than 300% higher than Black households, this law deeply impacted DC’s communities of color.
Jeff’s work has led to the upcoming repeal of the Clean Hands Law, which will take place in October 2023. Jeff also worked with Tzedek DC to contribute to a lawsuit against the District arguing that continued enforcement of the Clean Hands Law in the months before the repeal takes effect violates the Constitution's Equal Protection and Due Process principles.