About Us
THE BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE
Our Mission
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law is a non-partisan public policy and law institute that focuses on fundamental issues of democracy and justice. Our work ranges from voting rights to redistricting reform, from access to the courts to presidential power in the fight against terrorism. A singular institution—part think tank, part public interest law firm, part advocacy group—the Brennan Center combines scholarship, legislative and legal advocacy, and communications to win meaningful, measurable change in the public sector.
CONTACT US
General Inquiries:
Phone: 212 998.6730
Fax: 212.995.4550
Email:
Media Inquiries:
Susan Lehman
Director of Communications & Strategy
212.998.6318
Maggie Barron
Communications Manager
212.998.6153
Funding:
Cathy Mitchell Toren
Development Director
212.998.6388
PROGRAMS
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law unites thinkers and advocates in pursuit of a vision of inclusive and effective democracy. Our mission is to develop and implement an innovative, nonpartisan agenda of scholarship, public education, and legal action that promotes equality and human dignity, while safeguarding fundamental freedoms.
We use scholarship, public education, and legal action to find innovative and practical solutions to intractable problems in the areas of democracy, poverty, and criminal justice.
The Center takes its cue not from Brennan opinions written for a past era, but from the singular Brennan spirit of asking the hard questions, transcending conventional wisdom, keeping faith in the power of open and honest discourse, and building unlikely coalitions around practical solutions.
Democracy Program:
The Democracy Program seeks to change the ways in which citizens participate in their government by fixing the systems that discourage voting, hinder competition, and promote the interests of the few over the rights of the many. The challenge is great. Built in obstacles bedevil our democracy. The country contains more than 3,000 separate electoral jurisdictions spread across 50 states and the District of Columbia. And the patchwork of federal, state, and local laws governing campaigns and elections creates a labyrinth seemingly impenetrable to broad reform efforts.
Our program collaborates with grassroots groups, advocacy organizations, and reform-minded government officials to eliminate these obstacles. We strive to ensure that public policy and institutions reflect the diverse voices and interests that make for a rich and energetic democracy. The Center will advance these goals using tools of research, policy analysis and publications; media outreach and public education; legislative counseling and advocacy; and legal action.
Three goals animate our work towards comprehensive reform:
- A voting system in which every vote counts, all citizens are registered, eligibility rules are expansive, and turn-out increases dramatically. Our voting reform work aims towards universal voter registration.
- Electoral redistricting system that spurns partisan gerrymandering, protects civil rights, and insures genuinely competitive elections.
- A campaign finance system that reduces the role of big money in elections by providing voluntary public financing at the national, state and local levels.
Justice Program:
The Justice Program fights to secure the nation's promise of equal justice for all.
The American justice system is in disrepair. More than ever before, our courts are the province of the wealthy: private counsel is expensive, civil legal services programs are underfunded and restricted, qualified interpreters are few and far between, and technical rules destroy legitimate claims. In criminal proceedings, the poor rely on lawyers who have meager resources but must handle overwhelming caseloads. The government agencies that administer public benefits and enforce civil rights, and wage and hour, laws are politically influenced and underfunded. The Justice Department, itself, is in disarray. And, the war on terror has upset our checks and balances, sapping the justice system of its ability to prevent detention, torture and rendition of the innocent.
The Brennan Center's Justice Program is dedicated to justice system reform that reduces the gap between the promise of equal justice and the day to day reality. Our Access to Justice Project works to repair the "justice gap" - the inability of low income and of color communities to rely on courts and agencies to secure the rule of law and prevent harms. Our Liberty & National Security Project fights to restore checks and balances - the uniquely American method for keeping government honest and making public policy sound.The project consists of a Public Conversation Series, Fellowship Program and a series of Brennan Center books that includes:
The Genius of America: How the Constitution Saved Our Country and Why It Can Again
(Bloomsbury USA 2007)
By Eric Lane and Michael Oreskes
Unchecked and Unbalanced: Presidential Power in a Time of Terror
(New Press, 2007)
By Frederick A. O. "Fritz" Schwarz, Jr. and Aziz Huq.
The Machinery of Democracy: Protecting Elections in an Electronic World
(Academy Chicago Publishers, 2007)
By Lawrence Norden and the Brennan Center Task Force on Voting System Security.
A Return to Common Sense
(SourceBooks, June 2008)
By Michael Waldman
Locations
New York City
The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law is located at 161 Avenue of the Americas (6th Ave), between Spring and Vandam streets on the west side. Our office is on the 12th floor.
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Subways
C or E train to Spring Street
1 train to Houston
R or W train to Prince Street
6 train to Spring Street (walk west to 6th avenue)
Washington, D.C.
The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, Washington, D.C. office, is located at 1730 M Street, NW. Our office is on the 4th floor, suite 413.
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