In 2025, NCLEJ proudly celebrates our 60th anniversary.
The decades-long work of our staff is truly inspiring. From prevailing in Goldberg v. Kelly, the landmark 1970 Supreme Court case that enshrined the right to due process for public benefits recipients, to forcing NYCHA to clean up toxic mold and moisture in public housing in New York City, to securing over $100 million in additional Medicaid funding for Michiganders with developmental disabilities, we have earned incredible victories over the years, impacting hundreds of thousands of people across the country.
But even as we celebrate our history, we look to the present with fierce urgency. The extreme policies of the Trump administration are targeting the very communities we serve – and our work to empower low-income people, dismantle structural racism, and make our society more inclusive for people with disabilities has become more important than ever before.
But while these times may be challenging, NCLEJ is no stranger to adversity.
At the time of our founding in 1965, most public benefits programs were brand new, and the legal protections for recipients of those benefits did not yet exist. The pioneering lawyers of NCLEJ fought all the way up to the highest Court in the land to establish these essential legal rights. When Congress eliminated the federal right to cash welfare in the 1990s, we took the fight to state courts and doubled down on protecting access and rights for recipients of other benefits programs. And during the first Trump administration, we fought alongside impacted partners and communities to ensure immigrant families were not unjustly penalized for receiving public benefits to which they were legally entitled.
Across our 60-year history, we’ve risen to the urgency of the historic moment. And we will continue to do so as we confront the challenges of today.
The National Center for Law and Economic Justice advances racial and economic justice through ground-breaking impact litigation, policy advocacy, and support for grassroots organizing. We have provided legal representation and support since 1965.
