On October 8, our client Brianna Morgan traveled to Washington, D.C., to watch her case be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. She went to watch our legal team and our pro bono partners at McGuireWoods present her and our other named plaintiffs’ case before the US Supreme Court for oral arguments in “Lackey v. Stinnie,” which stemmed from our successful effort to end driver’s license suspension for nonpayment of court debt.
The original case achieved its goal for those named plaintiffs: ending the suspension of their licenses for court debt. It also ended the statewide practice of suspending licenses due to court debt when the government changed the law before the lawsuit was finished. Our clients and our team were initially denied the ability to collect attorney’s fees from the government to help cover the immense costs that are incurred when bringing a federal lawsuit—even though we won a preliminary injunction providing relief to our clients and signalling that we were likely to win the lawsuit.
We fought this decision, and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with our argument that government actors couldn’t avoid the costs of breaking the law simply by changing the rules when it’s clear they won’t win. Unfortunately, the State then appealed this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. After many more hours of preparation, our pro bono counsel from McGuireWoods stood before the Justices on Tuesday to make our case. You can listen to the arguments here.
The outcome of this case will affect civil rights enforcement and access to courts across the country, which is why our side received support from a wide spectrum of civil rights organizations and advocacy groups. How many people will stand up for their rights if they know that the government can just wait until the last minute, change the law, and leave victims of unlawful practices holding the bill?
While we hope the Justices will see the vital importance in allowing fees to be awarded in situations like these, we won’t know until decisions are announced by the end of June 2025. We will be sure to update you when we hear!
Pictured: Our legal team and families: John Woolard, Brian Schmalzbach, Jonathan Blank, Pat Levy-Lavelle, Brianna Morgan, Angela Ciolfi, Wallis Barratt, Leslie Kendrick, Solomon Schwartzman
