Since its establishment in 2008, the Chubb Rule of Law Fund has made 66 grants to support projects that promote the preservation and advancement of the rule of law. The projects include support for the development of rules-based legal systems, independent and knowledgeable judiciaries and anti-corruption matters, as well as the improvement of administrative procedures and access to legal services.
The latest round of grants strengthens the organization’s focus on combating racism in the American justice system, with support going to initiatives that are working to improve police and community relations and to understand and reduce racial inequities in the criminal justice process.
“Events unfolding across our nation in the last year have further focused our attention on what more Chubb can do to fight racial injustice,” said Joseph Wayland, executive vice president and general counsel at Chubb Group. “Funding Chubb Rule of Law Fund projects that combat racial injustice in our legal system is part of this effort.
“The organizations and programs we are supporting are doing important work to improve police and community relations and promote a more just criminal justice system. As Chubb strives to create a culture of anti-racism, we recognize that we, as a company and as individuals, cannot be bystanders. Our support for philanthropy and citizenship, including this new round of Chubb Rule of Law Fund projects, is one way we are advancing this goal.”
The new project commitments are:
Equal Justice USA has been awarded a $250,000 grant to expand its Newark, N.J.-based police training program, Trauma to Trust, to Baton Rouge, La. The program aims to increase empathy, understanding, trust and accountability between community residents and police officers. This is the find’s second grant to Equal Justice USA for the Trauma to Trust program.
The Policing Project at NYU Law School has been awarded a $350,000 grant for two projects aimed at reforming police practices. In Chicago, the grant will support the expansion of successful community policing practices that have helped increase positive contact between police officers and neighborhood residents. The grand will help to develop the program as a model for other cities. The grant will also support the First Response project, which is currently developing protocols for responding to 911 calls to reduce the likelihood of inadvertent, unnecessary or disproportionate use of force.
The Vera Institute of Justice has received $250,000 to support Motion for Justice, a program that works with prosecutors to reduce racial inequities in the criminal justice process. The Vera Institute is currently working with prosecutors in counties in seven states. The funding will be used to expand the program to an additional 10 prosecutors across the country.
The Southern Center for Human Rights has been given $250,000 to develop a data model and database to provide an empirical basis to assess the impact of race in the administration of criminal justice in Georgia and Alabama. The grant will fund the full cost of creating the database.
These projects are the latest in the fund’s ongoing support for racial justice initiatives. Last year, the Chubb Rule of Law Fund awarded grants to two organizations that work to combat bias in the judicial system, the Pennsylvania Innocence Project and Community Legal Services of Philadelphia.
