Community Rights Counsel

The Community Rights Counsel was an American non-profit, public interest law firm formed in 1997 by the late Doug Kendall. Its general aim was to assist communities in protecting their health and welfare. The organization's legal work focused on the intersection of environmental and constitutional law, filing frequent amicus briefs in cases defending governmental action against claims of "regulatory takings."

Activities

The group promoted judicial ethics, exposing the practice of judges attending junkets sponsored by right wing think tanks that espoused free market anti-regulatory philosophies.{{Cite web |last=Bruss |first=Keith |date=2014-10-22 |title=Wrongful death lawsuits: who can file one? |url=https://johnston-lawfirm.com/wrongful-death-lawsuits-who-can-file-one-in-oregon/ |access-date=2024-06-15 |language=en-US}} Their findings were published in two reports, Nothing for Free: How Private Judicial Seminars Are Undermining Environmental Protections and Breaking the Public's Trust (July 2000), and Tainted Justice: How Private Judicial Trips Undermine Public Trust in the Federal Judiciary (March 2004).{{cite web|url=http://www.communityrights.org/AboutCRC/about.asp|title=About CRC|accessdate=2009-06-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429105408/http://www.communityrights.org/AboutCRC/about.asp|archive-date=2009-04-29|url-status=usurped}} A version of Tainted Justice was published in the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics 18:65-134.

The group has since been absorbed into the Constitutional Accountability Center, a legal advocacy group.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/28/us/politics/roberts-plays-a-long-game.html |title = Roberts Pulls Supreme Court to the Right Step by Step|newspaper = The New York Times |date = 28 June 2013 |last1 = Liptak |first1 = Adam}}

Cases

The group filed many amicus briefs in state and federal appellate courts and the Supreme Court supporting the federal government. Among their notable briefs was an amicus submission in Gonzales v. Raich (2005).{{cite web |url=http://www.communityrights.org/Newsroom/crcInTheNews/WP11-29-04.asp |title=Court to Hear Marijuana Case Legality of Cultivating Plant for Medical Use Is at Issue |last=Lane |first=Charles |work=The Washington Post |date=2004-11-29 |accessdate=2009-06-10|url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330000912/http://www.communityrights.org/Newsroom/crcInTheNews/WP11-29-04.asp |archivedate=2009-03-30}} The case concerned whether the federal government had the power to regulate medical marijuana under the Constitution's Commerce Clause, which is the basis of federal authority for many health, safety, welfare, and environmental statutes. Had the federal government lost, many federal laws and regulations might not be enforceable except by a state-level action.

References

External links

{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20000226215700/http://www.communityrights.org/ Official Website]}}

Category:Law firms established in 1997

Category:Defunct law firms of the United States

Category:1997 establishments in the United States

Category:21st-century disestablishments in the United States

Category:Law firms disestablished in the 21st century