The Barrick Institute for Civil Rights
The Mission of The Barrick Institute is to expose its Graduate Fellows to civil rights litigation and train them to identify, litigate and resolve civil rights claims.
info@thebarrickinstitute.org
540 E St Louis Ave. Las Vegas, NV 89104
(702) 892-3500
Genesis
Mr. Travis Barrick, Esq. was first introduced in 2010 to families with members incarcerated in the prison system of the state of Nevada. Troubled by their plight, Mr. Barrick began a decade-long effort to bring unaccountable authority to answer for their abuse of the constitutional rights of those in their custody.
Since that point, he has participated in the series of litigation that ended the segregation of prisoners with HIV in Nevada prisons, required the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC) to provide anti-viral treatment to inmates with hepatitis C, and ended the internal policy of maintaining control of prisoners by the firing of a shotgun shell with birdshot (a lethal round).
Mr. Barrick’s 2015 representation of Mr. Phillip Lyons in his §1983 litigation against the NDOC for the abrogation of his constitutional rights through the use of excessive force epitomizes the mission of the Institute. Mr. Lyons had served twenty-five years in the system. Since his release, Mr. Lyons has worked with Mr. Barrick in hundred of civil rights cases becoming a subject matter expert of some repute. Mr. Lyons has, in that same period, acquired his paralegal certification with the College of Southern Nevada.
With Mr. Lyon’s success as a guiding paradigm for the Institute, Mr. Barrick now seeks to provide a new generation of legal fellows with the skills required to obligate those in authority to perform constitutional duties.
THE DESPERATE NEED
Alone in a community or within the penal system of our country, the individual, many times, has limited means to defend against the impunity with which those in control trample his/her inherent constitutional rights.
Pitted against the limitless resources of the very system that has violated those rights, pro se plaintiffs in 42 U.S.C §1983 litigation are at an extraordinary disadvantage when seeking redress.
Often lacking in even basic literacy, they are also hampered by the byzantine requirements to exhaust institutional remedies before even contemplating the complexities of making their case before the federal bench.
The Prison Litigation Reform Act also requires the federal trial court judge to “identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or any portion of the complaint” if it is “frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; or . . . seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a), (b).
Many pro se plaintiffs lack sufficient skill to properly present even a meritorious case so that these significant hurdles are overcome.
These limitations have created an overwhelmed federal docket causing many abuses to go uncorrected.
The Barrick Institute for Civil Rights is of the firm belief that this quagmire can be mitigated by earlier intervention in the process by legal fellows trained to help individual complainants analyze and present their issues to the courts in the best possible manner.
This will serve to recognize those who have sincerely suffered and will also significantly improve the efficiency of the federal judiciary.
The Institute gratefully appreciates your support in this worthwhile endeavor.
Get In Touch
For general inquiries, you can reach The Barrick Institute by email at info@thebarrickinstitute.org or by phone at (702) 892-3500.
Address:
540 E St Louis Ave.
Las Vegas, NV 89104
Email
Info@thebarrickinstitute.org
Phone Number
(702) 892-3500