Mission Statement
We advocate for people harmed by America’s oppressive and violent criminal legal system. We fight to vindicate their rights, hold people with power accountable, and transform the system.
We believe in a legal system that treats every person with dignity—as a human being—regardless of their social or economic power. Regardless of their race or identity.
— Amir Ali
Former Executive Director
Core Values
We pursue our mission from a place of deep principle and hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity in representing our clients. We believe in innovative and audacious advocacy. We’ll never be afraid to defend someone simply because society tells us they should be condemned, stigmatized, or vilified.
As legal and political environments change, so do the threats to the people and communities we stand alongside. We adapt to the challenges of our day. We also strive to be agile from within—to challenge ourselves to grow as individuals and as an organization.
We know success depends on working together as a team and with partners. Within our own teams, we are committed to working across differences, and treat conflicting views as an opportunity for deeper understanding and to strengthen our work. We also believe in building coalitions, and in the potential to persuade unlikely minds to join sides with us.
We take ownership of and reflect on our successes, as well as our setbacks. We’re committed to having meaningful and constructive conversations, and to internalizing lessons from our wins and our misses. We work first and foremost for our clients, who are often themselves searching for accountability and change in a system that too often falls short.
We are proud of our work, yet appreciate that the change we want to see is bigger than any one of us. We aspire for our work to be one part of a much larger movement. We also know that while the work we do is serious, it’s okay to not take ourselves too seriously.
Our Story
In 1985, one part time attorney in a small office in Niles, Illinois started this organization by taking on the state’s death penalty. Over 35 years later, the MacArthur Justice Center has attorneys in five states litigating cases all over the country at every level of the federal judicial system.
Roderick MacArthur
Roderick MacArthur, an innovator and successful entrepreneur, channeled much of his business proceeds to diverse social justice and human rights causes.
He would pass his lifelong passion for reform onto his children – Greg, Solange and Rick. Sharing their father’s dedication to social justice and human rights, Roderick’s children founded the MacArthur Justice Center in his memory.
I know you know that my time is short. I wish I could be with you, shoulder to shoulder, in all the coming battles. But I have to be content with our footprints briefly mingling on the line of march. There is much to do. I am reassured by the knowledge that any empty ranks I and others leave will be filled by those who believe that civil liberties are not just a means but the essence of ourselves as humans.
— J. Roderick MacArthur
Solange MacArthur
Solange MacArthur, like her brothers, inherited Roderick’s deeply felt commitment to social justice. A woman of diverse talents – a medical doctor and a surgeon, an accomplished classical ballerina – she was also a steadfast advocate for the poor and the vulnerable. Her fierce commitment to social justice helped shape the mission of the MacArthur Justice Center.
At her untimely death, Solange’s bequest to the Justice Center ensures that the organization will live on – and continue to grow. Our work honors her memory and reflects her compassion.
Every day, we fight for real solutions to the problems with our criminal legal system.