The Brennan Center for Justice at

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

(NYU Law) is a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

or progressive nonprofit law and public policy institute. The organization is named after Supreme Court Justice

William J. Brennan Jr. William Joseph Brennan Jr. (April 25, 1906 – July 24, 1997) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1956 to 1990. He was the seventh-longest serving justice in Supr ...

The Brennan Center advocates for public policy positions including raising the

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...

, opposing

voter ID laws A voter identification law is a law that requires a person to show some form of identification in order to vote. In some jurisdictions requiring photo IDs, voters who do not have photo ID often must have their identity verified by someone else ( ...

, and calling for

public funding of elections A publicly funded election is an election funded with money collected through income tax donations or taxes as opposed to private or corporate-funded campaigns. In 1974, following the Watergate scandal, the U.S. Congress revised the Federal Elec ...

. The organization opposed the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in '' Citizens United v. FEC'', which held that the

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

prohibits the government from restricting independent political expenditures by nonprofit organizations. The Brennan Center's stated mission is to "work to hold our political institutions and laws accountable to the twin American ideals of democracy and equal justice for all." Its president is

Michael Waldman Michael A. Waldman is an American attorney, a presidential speechwriter, and political advisor, currently serving as the president of the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonprofit law and policy institute whose operations are centered at the New Yo ...

, former

speechwriter A speechwriter is a person who is hired to prepare and write speeches to be delivered by another person. Speechwriters are employed by many senior-level elected officials and executives in the government and private sectors. They can also be em ...

for President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

History and mission

The Brennan Center for Justice was founded in 1995 by the family and former

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

s of Supreme Court Justice

, whom ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' called "the progressive voice of the modern court". Justice Brennan's idea of a

living constitution The Living Constitution, or judicial pragmatism, is the viewpoint that the U.S. constitution holds a dynamic meaning even if the document is not formally amended. Proponents view the constitution as developing alongside society's needs and ...

figures largely into the center's work. The Brennan Center started with an initial grant by the

Carnegie Corporation of New York The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Since its founding, the Carnegie Corporation has endowed or othe ...

of $25,000 in 1996. The Carnegie Corporation in years since has donated over $3,650,000. During the selection process of what school to center operations from, the Brennan Center selected

NYU Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest surviving ...

out of a choice of three schools, with the other two being

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

. The Brennan Center is part

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

, part public interest

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

, and part

advocacy Advocacy is an Action (philosophy), activity by an individual or advocacy group, group that aims to influence decision making, decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to infl ...

group. The organization is involved in issues such as opposing

that it believes unduly restrict voter registration, and other barriers to registration and voting, and advocates for

redistricting Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

reform and campaign finance reform.

Activities

The Brennan Center's work is divided into three programs—Democracy, Justice, and Liberty & National Security. Past programs focused on criminal justice, poverty, and economic justice. The organization has focus on issues both at the national level in the United States but also at the state and local levels of government. The Brennan Center opposes

mass incarceration Incarceration in the United States is one of the primary means of punishment for crime in the United States. In 2021, over five million people were under supervision by the criminal justice system, with nearly two million people incarcerated ...

and produces research on causes of violent

crime in the United States Crime has been recorded in the United States since its founding and has fluctuated significantly over time. Most available data underestimate crime before the 1930s (due to incomplete datasets and other factors), giving the false impression that c ...

. The Brennan Center has represented several

detainee Detention is the process whereby a state or private citizen holds a person by removing or restricting their freedom or liberty at that time. Detention can be due to (pending) criminal charges against the individual pursuant to a prosecution or ...

s at the

Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by p ...

, and also

U.S. citizens Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constitu ...

legal resident In law and conflict of laws, domicile is relevant to an individual's "personal law", which includes the law that governs a person's status and their property. It is independent of a person's nationality. Although a domicile may change from time t ...

s held as

unlawful enemy combatants An unlawful combatant, illegal combatant, or unprivileged combatant/belligerent is a person who directly engages in armed conflict and is considered a terrorist and therefore is deemed not to be a lawful combatant protected by the Geneva Convent ...

. Attorneys from the Brennan Center challenged a

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

's authority to declare a prisoner to be an unlawful enemy combatant in the war on terror. They have also challenged the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

's power to deny ''

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to ...

'' to such prisoners. The Brennan Center assisted in drafting and enacting the

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (, ), commonly known as the McCain–Feingold Act or BCRA ( ), is a United States federal law that amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which regulates the financing of political campaign ...

of 2002 (BCRA). The law banned

soft money The financing of electoral campaigns in the United States happens at the federal, state, and local levels by contributions from individuals, corporations, political action committees, and sometimes the government. Campaign spending has rise ...

contributions to

political campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracy, democracies, political campaigns often refer to election, electoral campaigns, by which representatives a ...

s. The organization helped Senator

Dick Durbin Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Dem ...

write the Fair Elections Now Act. The Brennan Center advocated for the passage in 2010 of New York's law ending prison-based

gerrymandering Gerrymandering, ( , originally ) defined in the contexts of Representative democracy, representative electoral systems, is the political manipulation of Boundary delimitation, electoral district boundaries to advantage a Political party, pa ...

, and was part of a coalition of organizations that sought to defend that law from a court challenge. The Brennan Center advocates for the restoration of felon

voting rights Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in ...

. The Brennan Center represented

plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...

s Margarita López Torres, other unsuccessful judicial candidates, and

Common Cause Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President Lyndon ...

, in a

lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...

that challenged the way New York state

trial judge A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually heard by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). ...

candidates gain access to the ballot. They prevailed in the

U.S. District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. In 2007, attorneys from the Brennan Center argued '' N.Y. State Bd. of Elections v. Lopez Torres'' before the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

. In 2008, the court ruled for the state. In 2015, the Brennan Center submitted an ''

amicus curiae An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a Party (law), party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Wheth ...

'' brief with the

Supreme Court of Wisconsin The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest and final court of appeals in the state judicial system of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. In addition to hearing appeals of lower Wisconsin court decisions, the Wisconsin Supreme Court also has the option ...

, urging the state not to overturn John Doe law, which allows the state to conduct criminal investigations in secret. The Brennan Center has been tracking states' legislation on

voter ID law A voter identification law is a law that requires a person to show some form of identification in order to vote. In some jurisdictions requiring photo IDs, voters who do not have photo ID often must have their identity verified by someone else ( ...

s and other barriers to voter registration and voting to determine whether there is undue burden carried by certain communities. Numerous lawsuits have been brought against states in such cases. By August 1, 2016, rulings in five cases: Ohio, Texas, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and North Dakota, overturned certain voter ID and other provisions, requiring states to make alternatives acceptable for the November 2016 election cycle.Ariane de Vogue, "Voting challenges head toward the Supreme Court: 4 cases to watch"
CNN, 19 July 2016; accessed 30 July 2016"Voter ID Laws Take a Beating in U.S. Courts", ''New York Times,'' 30 July 2016, p. 1 The Brennan Center research has also indicated that instances of

voter fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...

by citizens and non-citizens are very rare. In 2021, the Brennan Center represented Ohio citizens groups in their efforts to stop

and, after winning judgments in the state Supreme Court did not improve district maps, the Center supported a 2024 ballot initiative. In 2023, the Brennan Center surveyed election administrators, finding many plan on retiring before the 2024 presidential election. The Brennan Center filed a friend of the court briefing in the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Moore v. Harper. In oral arguments on December 7, 2022, the Brennan Center urged the United States Supreme Court to allow the North Carolina Supreme Court to strike down the state legislature’s congressional map for violating the North Carolina Constitutio

The Brennan Center for Justice is a partner organization of

VoteRiders VoteRiders is an American non-partisan, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to ensure that all U.S. citizens over 18 years old are able to exercise their right to vote. One of its main focuses is assisting citizens who want to secu ...

. In 2024, the Brennan Center, VoteRiders, and other organizations released research on proof of citizenship in the U.S., finding that more than 21 million Americans would not be able to quickly locate a passport, birth certificate, or naturalization papers as proof of citizenship within 24 hours. The research also concluded that nearly four million American citizens (two percent of U.S. citizens) lack access to any form of proof in citizenship. Later in 2024, the Center also released a report focused on state-by-state redesigns of election rules in the aftermath of the 2020 election. In 2025, the Brennan Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of a coalition of voting rights organizations, including the

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan American nonprofit political organization. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include Voter registration, registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and adv ...

and the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

, challenging President Trump's ''

Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections As the 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump has relied extensively on executive orders. In the first 100 days of his presidency, Trump signed 143 executive orders (an average of over one per day), more than any other president ha ...

'' executive order, which directs the

Election Assistance Commission The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is an independent agency of the United States government created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). The Commission serves as a national clearinghouse and resource of information regarding elec ...

to require documentary proof of citizenship for the federal voter registration form.

Funding

As of the Brennan Center's 2021 annual report, the organization has received funding from:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brennan Center For Justice 1995 establishments in New York City Civil liberties advocacy groups in the United States Election and voting-related organizations based in the United States Elections in the United States New York University New York University research institutes Non-profit organizations based in New York City Organizations established in 1995 Progressive organizations in the United States