Chubb Rule of Law Fund

The Chubb Rule of Law Fund is helping Equal Justice USA expand its Newark, N.J.-based police training program “Trauma to Trust” to other U.S. cities. This innovative program brings police officers and community residents together to increase empathy, understanding, trust and accountability. Over multiple sessions, police and community members work with a trained facilitator to learn how historical and personal trauma affects their interactions and perceptions of one another, building trust and fairness in community policing. The program has earned praise from police officers, community members and civic leaders, and garnered national attention.

The Chubb Rule of Law Fund awarded the Policing Project at NYU Law School grants for two projects to reform policing practices. In Chicago, the grant will support the expansion of successful community policing practices that enhance accountability, problem solving and increased positive contact between police officers and neighborhood residents. Funds from the grant will help to develop the program as a model for other cities. The Fund is also supporting the organization’s First Response project, which is in the process of developing state-of-the-art protocols for responding to emergency 911 calls to reduce the likelihood of inadvertent, unnecessary or disproportionate use of force.

Various studies have demonstrated that Black people are substantially more likely than other racial groups to be wrongfully convicted in U.S. courts. A grant to The Pennsylvania Innocence Project is supporting its efforts to amend state law to increase integrity in the criminal justice system by providing for greater transparency of police misconduct, access to records of police investigations, including exculpatory evidence, and an open registry of the use of jailhouse informants and recorded interrogations.

The international legal regime for refugee protection, constructed decades ago and long before the ongoing migration crisis brought on by 21st century globalization, requires substantial reform. The Chubb Rule of Law Fund is supporting the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, which is working with a range of refugee advocates, academics, and law firm partners to develop a refugee law reform agenda to ensure that refugee policies and laws are consistent with the rule of law. Current reports of refugee abuse, exacerbated by pandemic responses, underscore the urgency of this work.

Recently, we joined with other multinational companies and law firms to provide important training for judges in Guatemala to help promote greater independence and integrity in the judicial process.

Learn how judges received support from the Rule of Law Fund in facing the challenges to the court system in Guatemala.

A key area of focus for the Chubb Rule of Law Fund is ensuring that young people facing extended incarceration have adequate access to justice. We’re especially proud to support the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia, whose mission is to advocate for rights, dignity, equity and opportunity for youth in the child welfare and justice systems.

Learn first-hand about the impact of juvenile solitary confinement as Alyssa and Vidal tell their stories.