New York’s state courts must protect the rights of all New Yorkers—but too often they reproduce systemic injustices that harm our communities.
As the Supreme Court makes federal law increasingly regressive, restricting Americans’ rights and putting justice out of reach for most who seek it in federal courts, state courts need to play a new role: as fierce defenders of constitutional and civil rights. But New York’s judiciary has often been little more than a bureaucracy of punishment, prioritizing police, prosecutors, and corporate interests over community well-being and fairness. Under the banner of The Court New York Deserves, we are leading innovative campaigns and developing new advocacy methods to ensure that our state courts are fair, equitable, and accountable, and that they uphold New Yorkers' values.
New York's state courts are failing New Yorkers. We need fairer judges and a more accountable court system.
The Court New York Deserves includes our work to:
To achieve true justice for all New Yorkers, we must transform our judiciary.
The Court New York Deserves is dedicated to reshaping our judiciary to better serve all New Yorkers, especially those who have faced injustice and oppression at the hands of our courts. In 2023, we made history by blocking a regressive nominee for Chief Judge—the first time a governor's nominee to New York's highest court had ever been rejected—and then winning the nomination and confirmation of one of the leading decarceral judges in the state, now-Chief Judge Rowan Wilson. But this was just the beginning. We are now charting the course toward long-term structural and political changes that will allow us to influence not only the state’s highest court but also the thousands of judges who sit on trial courts across New York, ensuring that our courts uphold and advance our values.
Additionally, we are building a national infrastructure to support advocates across the country who are working to change the compositions and cultures of their state and local courts and push for judges committed to the rights of marginalized people. By transforming our courts, we can ensure that justice is not just an ideal but a reality for all. Together, we can create a judiciary that truly reflects and serves the people it is meant to represent.
