User:Jacobnlloren/Texas Civil Rights Project

Lead
Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Austin, Texas, that advocates for voter rights, racial and economic justice, and criminal justice reform.

History
Chávez's efforts to organize the South Texas farm worker community and ultimately secure union contracts for them led to the birth of both OLPU and the United Farm Workers.

In September 1990, James Harrington founded Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP) as a program of OLPU in Austin, Texas. STP also became a project of TCRP the same year.[ citation needed] Harrington would go on to direct TCRP for 25 years, growing the organization into the legal advocacy organization it is today.

In February 2016, Mimi Marziani, a nationally recognized expert in voting rights and democratic reform, was announced as the group's second Executive Director.

Issues

TCRP has traditionally worked on issues related to voting rights, institutional discrimination, criminal justice, and First Amendment rights.

Immigrant Victims Services
In 2016, TCRP's advocacy was geared toward improving Texas' voter registration system.

An estimated five million Texans have experienced family violence in their lifetimes and immigrants are even more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse than their citizen counterparts. TCRP empowers immigrant victims of abuse to leave abusers and become self-sufficient by providing direct legal services, as well as providing education and community advocacy to support survivors. Specifically:


 * TCRP provides direct legal services to more than 1,500 victims of abuse on an annual basis.
 * In 2015, TCRP's program educated more than 500 people about the best practices for working with battered immigrants.
 * TCRP's services are focused in rural Texas.

Veterans Services
Texas is home to over 1.6 million veterans of military service, the highest number in the nation. Veterans returning from deployment sometimes have mental, emotional, and physical injuries stemming from their service. TCRP empowers veterans and educates the community to remove any stigma the effects of war may still carry. TCRP provides advocacy and legal assistance to veterans with disabilities who experience serious civil rights violations or who face discrimination. TCRP also hosts "Know Your Rights" presentations with a focus on veterans' issues. In addition to offering veterans the same services TCRP offers all individuals for civil rights protection, TCRP also works on several issues most common to veterans. Specifically:


 * TCRP ensures service animals are not denied entry to protected public places.
 * TCRP advocates for the expansion of Veteran Treatment Courts.
 * TCRP assists veterans with discharge status upgrades.
 * TCRP is accredited to assist veterans with applications for VA benefits when they are assisting those individuals with an accompanying legal issue.

Racial Discrimination
For example, TCRP helped Mohammed Ali Ahmed, an American citizen who asked to leave an American Airlines flight with his three children after the pilot saw his name on the passenger manifesto, file suit against American Airlines.

Criminal Justice System
'TCRP also brought a case against the Otero County Sheriff's Department, which resulted in sweeping reform and increased training within the police force, after officials illegally searched homes, harassed and interrogated residents, and racially profiled and stopped citizens to target undocumented immigrants.

The jail was required to modify the policy as a consequence.

Police Brutality
When an ambulance arrived to take the student to the hospital, the officer took him out of the ambulance and sent him to jail instead. A TCRP lawsuit forced the city to pay $31,000.

Protecting Free Speech
The organization also sued the City of Austin in 2001, after protestors demonstrating against then-President George W. Bush's first visit back to Austin were blocked by police from entering the free speech zone near the Texas Governor's mansion.

When Raul G. Salinas, Mayor of Laredo, had issues with the local newspaper LareDOS being removed from distribution because they contained criticism and caricatures of Salinas, TCRP sued on behalf of the newspaper.

Right to Privacy

The Texas Legislature took additional action, requiring the State to obtain parental consent to store future samples through an "opt-out" consent form.