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Justice For All

Kathleen Nastri October 2017

Earlier this year, President Trump issued Executive Order 13769 banning immigration into the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries. Within hours, the Department of ­Homeland Security detained hundreds of legal immigrants and travelers ­nationwide, including many at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

Almost immediately, lawyers began arriving at the airport to represent detainees. Lisa Blue and Chris Hamilton, both of Dallas, were at the forefront of these efforts, along with 150 other volunteer lawyers who provided ­around-the-clock coverage to protect the detained travelers’ civil rights (read about Hamilton’s experience on p. 40).

Those lawyers fought for the same thing all trial lawyers fight for: access to justice. The fight isn’t easy, and it usually doesn’t get a lot of recognition—but it is necessary.

At my firm, we often provide pro bono representation of prisoners, usually at the request of a federal judge. My partner, Antonio Ponvert, recently tried a §1983 claim in which the plaintiff wanted only a new mattress. His client had initiated the suit on his own, claiming the prison had violated his Eighth Amendment right to be free from “cruel and unusual punishment.” The plaintiff was a 38-year-old man serving 12 years for felony assault. For seven months, he was forced to sleep on a moldy mattress with a slash down the center and most of its stuffing removed. He suffered from loss of sleep, and a prison doctor gave him large doses of ­painkillers each day for months to deal with his chronic pain.

Antonio sought justice for something so simple—something we take for granted every day—but it was a civil rights issue nevertheless. Antonio won the case, and the plaintiff received punitive damages, as well as a compensatory award for the civil rights violation.

Every plaintiff we represent is a human being who deserves access to justice. In this month’s Trial, read about trial lawyers seeking justice for their clients: undocumented immigrants (p. 34), victims of police misconduct (p. 26), and military servicemembers (p. 44). In support of this important work, AAJ has a Civil Rights Section, and Public Affairs tracks and opposes legislation that would negatively impact civil rights.

For example, we oppose the “Back the Blue Act,” which would prevent victims of law enforcement violence from recovering damages beyond “necessary ­out-of-pocket expenditures” in cases in which they are accused of a felony. The bill’s provisions apply even if the injured person is not convicted of the felony, and it limits damages for injuries occurring after arrest, such as during interrogation or in a hospital.

AAJ also opposes the “Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act,” which would make Rule 11 sanctions mandatory. Past experience shows that mandatory Rule 11 sanctions are disproportionately used against civil rights and employment discrimination plaintiffs.

These bills are two of the hundreds that AAJ tracks as being harmful to injured people’s rights. When AAJ warned that the new Congress was proposing bill after bill that attacked trial lawyers and their clients across all practice areas, many of you answered the call to contribute to the Voluntary Membership Assessment.

Your generosity has enabled the ­association to hire a digital marketing strategist who will help us increase outreach to engage trial lawyers and educate the public with our message.  Funds are also earmarked to increase AAJ’s digital and print advertising, upgrade the AAJ website, and for message development.

There is always more work ahead. That’s the nature of what we do—and what AAJ does for us and our clients. Thank you for standing up to ensure that access to justice will prevail.


Kathleen Nastri is an attorney at Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder in Bridgeport, Conn. She can be reached at kathleen.nastri@justice.org.