About the Project

All Rise for Civil Justice

All Rise for Civil Justice tells the story of America’s broken civil justice system, the people it hurts, the decisions that brought it to the brink, and the people working to make it better.

There is a crisis of civil injustice in America. It might look like a family wrongfully evicted from their home, a homeless veteran with untreated PTSD, a woman unsafe in her own home because she can’t escape her abuser, or a child threatened with deportation and facing an immigration judge alone.

Many faces and stories comprise this crisis, but the common thread is a civil justice system that fails to meet America’s promise of equal justice under law. In civil courts across the country, restricted and unequal access is the rule, not the exception, and the human toll is high.

All Rise will support the work of civil justice reformers by elevating stories like Sonja’s and the voices of practitioners like Andrea. The website will use video, photo essays, animations, mapping and other media to tell the stories of people living with the consequences of a civil justice system in desperate need of fixing.

The website will spotlight practical solutions and dial up the urgency of repairing our broken and unequal court systems. The site will be a one-stop shop for resources to better tell the stories of affected people, families and communities.

By defining the crisis and conveying its urgency, All Rise for Civil Justice aims to build a narrative that unifies an emerging national movement for civil justice reform.

Voices for Civil Justice

All Rise is a project of Voices for Civil Justice, the national communications hub for civil legal aid and civil justice reform. Voices’ mission is to raise awareness in the media about the need for civil justice reform. With a hand in more than 500 media placements that illuminate how civil legal aid is a lifeline for people who must navigate the civil justice system to protect their families, homes and livelihoods, Voices has become the go-to media resource for a robust and growing national network of advocates.

An Advisory Committee of leaders from key national organizations in the civil justice sector guides the work of Voices for Civil Justice. Its members include:

Generous funding for Voices for Civil Justice comes from The JPB Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and Public Welfare Foundation.