Southern Center for Human Rights (Georgia)
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"Up" is the number of experts who agree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in the
field. "Down" is the number of experts who disagree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in field.
Headquarters Location: Atlanta, GA
Founded: 1976
Mission: The Southern Center for Human Rights provides legal representation to people facing the death penalty, challenges human rights violations in prisons and jails, seeks through litigation and advocacy to improve legal representation for poor people accused of crimes, and advocates for criminal justice system reforms on behalf of those affected by the system in the Southern United States.
Tags:
legal representation, death penalty, litigation, advocacy, policy reform, publish reports & articles
Summary
Stories
Expert Reviews
Leadership
From the Nonprofit
Leadership
Sara Totonchi.
Sara Totonchi joined Southern Center for Human Rights in 2001 as the Public Policy Director and became the Executive Director in January, 2010. She represents SCHR at the Georgia General Assembly on a full range of criminal justice and public safety issues. Sara has led coalition efforts and legislative advocacy for criminal justice reform with concerned citizens including family members…
See full bio.
Financial Data
| Overhead Ratio: 19.96% | |
Charity Navigator Rating:
(profile)
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Total Revenue: $1,464,456 |
From the Nonprofit
Contact Info
Address:
83 Poplar St NW
Atlanta, GA 30303, USA
Twitter:
Story:
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, and within the United States, the top 7 states with the highest incarceration rates are all Southern states (Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina).
The region's addiction to incarceration is not a reflection of higher crime rates or a stronger commitment to public safety. To the contrary, the overuse of incarceration as a "solution" to drug addiciton, mental illness, and poverty has caused a number of serious problems: the level of overcrowding in prisons and jails throughout the South is inherently dangerous; prisons and jails compromise public health systems by making people sicker and disrupting care; and conditions inside prisons and jails often contribute to the creation of a culture of violence and abuse that spills out beyond the prison walls. Violence, guard brutality, extreme heat, poor medical care, and intolerable living conditions have all been challenged in litigation brought by SCHR.
Expert Reviews of Southern Center for Human Rights (Georgia)
Evidence of Impact Summary:
The Southern Center for Human Rights has been involved in litigation that has bettered the lives of individuals accused of capital crimes in Georgia and Alabama.See expert comments.
Organization Strengths Summary:
The excellent staff and leadership at the head of this organization continue to be one of the greatest strengths of the Southern Center for Human Rights, according to experts.See expert comments.
Areas for Improvement Summary:
Experts have indicated that this organization would be stronger with more resources, better salaries and training for staff, and a greater focus on marketing and research.See expert comments.
Expert Comments: Evidence of Impact
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Holistic Approach to the Issue |
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Southern Center for Human Rights provides litigation, policy reform, and public education support on a wide range of criminal justice issues and cases in the state, including death penalty cases. The Southern Center is a superior organization, which is highly respected within the state, the region and nationally. Several of their cases have made their way to the U.S. Supreme Court and made an impact in Georgia and across the nation. | ||
Successful Reform |
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This group takes on the worst cases of injustice in the worst places and is highly effective at bringing change. | ||
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This has largely been the sole source of reform in Georgia and Alabama for prison and jail conditions and indigent defense. | ||
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The SCHR provides effective death penalty defense that the state should but does not provide. The SCHR has forced counties and the states of Georgia and Alabama to improve inhumane conditions of confinement and has led Georgia to create a state-wide public defender system. The Southern Center, through litigation and advocacy, has led the Georgia legislature to roll back the nation's most punitive and counter-productive restrictions on people who have committed sex offenses. | ||
Prevention of Capital Punishment |
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The Southern Center for Human Rights works tirelessly to prevent the imposition of death sentences and prevent executions in Georgia, as well as challenging unconstitutionally harsh conditions of confinement and fighting to improve the indigent defense system. | ||
High Impact Litigation |
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SCHR has been doing amazing grass-roots and cutting edge litigation and policy work throughout GA and AL for thirty years. It's a lean organization that makes a very big impact by litigating death penalty trial and post-conviction cases, prison litigation cases, and other indigent defense reform work. Its civil practice, in particular, in recent years has been doing innovative work in the area of reentry and debtors' prisons as well as prison conditions work. The regional and sometimes national media has reported SCHR's work widely. | ||
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SCHR pursues high-impact litigation dealing with defendant's rights and prison conditions in the State of Georgia. One of its key U.S. Supreme Court cases, Amadeo v. Zant, exposed local corruption in the exclusion of people of color from petit juries in criminal cases. Other work of SCHR has exposed other shortcomings and injustices in the Georgia criminal justice system, and they have won important class action litigation aimed at ending human rights abuses in Georgia prisons. | ||
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They have a done a good job of mining stories in criminal cases to point out defects in the criminal justice system in cases and more broadly. | ||
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The Center's capital and prison litigation has made important progress. It has also served as a model for other nonprofits in litigation advocacy. | ||
Expert Comments: Organization Strengths
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Foundation Professionals (F)
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Researchers and Faculty (R)
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Great Staff and Leadership |
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Stephen Bright, the President of Southern Center, is a tireless advocate for the poor and disenfranchised, and he is one of the most inspirational orators of our time. Sara Totonchi, the current executive director, is a strategic leader who is well-respected by policymakers from both the left and the right. The Southern Center has saved countless lives of indigent defendants facing the death penalty, helped move legislative reform and fight back regressive legislation (such as non-unanimous juries), and uplifted members of their Georgia community. | ||
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They have an ambitious leadership and high staff quality. | ||
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Their leadership and staff is their major strengths | ||
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The Southern Center has a very deep leadership, starting with Steve Bright, perhaps the most important death penalty advocate in the United States. There are several other members of the senior staff with extensive experience and talent. The Southern Center also appears to have effective fundraising strategies. | ||
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SCHR has very strong staff and good relationships with stakeholders particularly in GA. There's a good deal of expertise among the lawyers. | ||
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SCHR has flourished under the brilliant and charismatic leadership of Steve Bright. They have a strong relationship with clinical programs at Yale and Harvard law schools, and what appears to be stable foundation support. | ||
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Their leader, Steve Bright is extraordinary. | ||
Efficient Use of Resources |
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This Southern Center has accomplished more than organizations with 5 times their budget. They use their money well and have been very smart in how they have grown over the last 30+ years. | ||
Sense of Continuity |
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It has continued to excel through several executive directors. Stephen Bright, the founder, has succeeded in modeling how an organization matures. | ||
Expert Comments: Areas for Improvement
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Foundation Professionals (F)
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Researchers and Faculty (R)
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Greater Access to Resources |
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With additional resources, in-house communications would provide a helpful boost. | ||
Higher Salaries for Staff |
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The Center needs to pay higher salaries to cut down on staff turnover. | ||
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Like EJI, SCHR lands young recruits for staff positions through its reputation for excellence in its mission. Also like many non-profits, SCHR derives some of its financial stability from its relatively low salary and benefit structure, but the long-term impact is to limit the longevity of professional staff. Higher salaries and more benefits are well-deserved. | ||
Better Training |
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Training for lawyers is not a strong suit of the organization, and supervision may be less formal than ideal. | ||
Better Marketing |
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The Southern Center's media outreach could be better. Some of this is just a need to better promote their own work, but some of this would allow other states and organizations to learn from their work. My suspicion is that the Southern Center is reluctant to spend the time and money on something that is not an immediate part of the work. I disagree with that decision, but I can respect it. | ||
More Staff Presence |
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They could use a higher presence for some of the staff other than Steve. | ||
Greater Focus on Research |
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They need to be engaged in more scholarship and publications. | ||
Leadership
Sara Totonchi
Executive Director
Executive Director