Southwest Center for Equal Justice
ABOUT US
Who we are
Southwest Center for Equal Justice was formed in 2019 by Wendy White and Gary Pearlmutter to address systemic issues of racial and class bias in the Arizona criminal justice system from policing to sentencing.
As former Public Defenders, Wendy and Gary have over 60 years of combined, front line experience representing people accused of crimes. Frustrated with the increasingly punitive and thoughtless imposition of criminal sanctions for minor infractions and justice system practices that invariably affect persons in poverty and minorities we joined forces to commence dismantling those practices with the goal of creating a justice system that treats all persons fairly and equally.
What we do
We are a non-profit organization that represents indigent persons in impact lawsuits against the State and local governmental agencies in cases that involve violations of civil rights and have the potential to improve the criminal justice system. There is no charge to our clients for our representation.
We do not engage in criminal defense unless it is necessary to a complete representation of the client in connection with the civil action against the offending agency. We do consider individual cases involving false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, wrongful forfeitures and civil rights violations on a case by case basis. We do provide direct assistance to clients impacted by collateral consequences of criminal convictions.