We @civrightscorps.bsky.social fight constitutional cases to re-sensitize our society to the everyday brutality of the punishment bureaucracy. Support us, we need your help now more than ever because a lot of large donors are abandoning us. civilrightscorpsorg.secure.nonprofitsoapbox.com/donate

This lawsuit was filed by @publicjustice.bsky.social, Civil Rights Corps, Maxted Law, LLC, Spero Justice Center, Singleton Schreiber, LLP and the National Center for Youth Law. 6/

This is the third lawsuit filed as part of the Right 2 Hug Project.

We all have a right to hug our family. 5/ www.right2hug.org

Profiteering off family separation is wrong.

“More than one-third of families with incarcerated relatives go into debt to cover the cost of staying in touch, and poor, low-income, Black, and brown families disproportionately bear this financial burden.” - Matt Garcia, attorney at CRC. 4/

Adams County, Colorado has banned all forms of family visitation in the jail since at least 2006. Our lawsuit alleges that the Sheriff, through the Board of County Commissioners, contracted with private prison telecom company HomeWAV to profit from this visitation ban. 3/

Over the last decade, hundreds of jails across the United States have eliminated in-person family visits, forcing families to pay for expensive phone and video calls, while for-profit, carceral telecom companies profit. 2/

Ms. C's case is being litigated by the Maryland Office of the Public Defender (OPD). Read more about it here:

Maryland families deserve support, not punishment.

RSVP for Cradle to Cage, Seeds of Hope, a convening led by systems-impacted organizers to confront the harms of Baltimore’s family policing system. 11/

..Using MD's safe haven law as a basis for a neglect finding will endanger maternal & infant health, especially for Black birthing people who already experience worse maternal health outcomes. No one should fear legal consequences for seeking help or seeking care.” -Dr. Jamila Perritt, @prh.org 10/

Physicians and organizations advancing reproductive justice have filed additional amicus briefs in support of the petition.

"Safe haven laws, while imperfect, are one of the few pieces of social infrastructure in place to support postpartum persons and their newborns...

Tying Maryland’s Safe Haven Law to family policing puts already marginalized families at greater risk of harm.

"In recent years, the rate of Black children entering the foster system in Maryland was over two times the rate of white children." - Miriam Mack, @movfamilypower.bsky.social 8/

“Fear of a [family policing case] will deter parents from using Safe Havens, putting the health of postpartum people and infants back at heightened risk—the exact harm the law was meant to prevent.” - Adina Marx-Arpadi, @ccrjustice.org 7/

Ms. C appealed her case, but the Appellate Court of Maryland upheld the neglect finding. Now, Ms C. is petitioning the Maryland Supreme Court to intervene. CRC, @movfamilypower.bsky.social, @ccrjustice.org, and 16 other orgs & movement leaders filed an amicus brief in support of Ms. C's petition. 6/

“By breaking the promise of immunity from civil and criminal liability, Maryland courts have created a no-win situation where parents are punished no matter what they do. It’s the perfect parent trap.” - Alexa Richardson, Civil Rights Corps 5/

Ms. C should have been protected – but still, the family police punished her.

“The Safe Haven Law was supposedly made to help parents and children. I trusted it and then they penalized me when I tried to use it.” - Ms. C. 4/

In 2024, Ms. C turned to Maryland’s Safe Haven Law for help after giving birth to twins.

Believing she did not have the resources to continue parenting her babies, Ms. C did exactly what the law promised she could: she left her healthy, unharmed, newborn babies in the care of a hospital. 3/

Safe haven laws were created to protect the health of birthing people & infants during the vulnerable postpartum period. These laws allow postpartum people to legally & anonymously leave newborns at a “safe haven”– like a hospital – without fear of criminal or civil punishment. 2/

We are @civrightscorps.bsky.social have pioneered landmark constitutional challenges to the unsafe and unjust cash bail system for a decade. Our work saves lives, protects liberty, and is more important than ever.