Constitutional Accountability Center Constitutional Accountability Center

Access to Justice

Ensuring that the courthouse doors remain open to all Americans
i
Jury | Valerie Keinsley / Indiana Humanities, Flickr

Summary

The Constitution guarantees citizens the ability to vindicate their rights in court. CAC fights to protect that right and ensure that all Americans get their day in an impartial court of law.

Access to Justice in Brief

U.S. Supreme Court | Ken Lund, Flickr

When the Constitution was framed, the promise of access to the federal courts was at the heart of a new system of government accountable to the people. The federal judiciary, with the Supreme Court at its head, would be the “keystone of the arch.” CAC works to defend the right of the people to have their day in court.

Featured Case

Access to Justice June 12, 2025

Martin v. United States

In 2017, FBI agents executed a no-knock warrant at the home of Curtrina Martin, deploying a flashbang grenade and sending a SWAT team in full tactical gear into her family’s home in the middle of the night. But the agents raided the wrong house—their actual target was a nearby home on a different street, with a different house number, and with distinguishable features. The FTCA expressly authorizes suits against the government for harms caused by federal actors and imposes tort liability in accordance with the law of the state where the actions took place. When Martin and her family sued...

Case Timeline

Current
  • The Supreme Court issues its decision
    CAC Release: In a Narrow, Unanimous Decision, Supreme Court Gives Victims of Wrong-House Raid Another...
  • The Supreme Court hears oral arguments
    RELEASE: Supreme Court Seems Poised to Issue a Narrow Decision in Wrong-House Raid Case
  • CAC files amicus brief in the Supreme Court