Overview: United States

When OSI launched its broad U.S. program in 1996, its central interest was the state of justice in the country. OSI chose this focus because deficiencies of justice were not only the most serious challenges to an open society in the United States but were also the issues most neglected by foundations and other key institutions.

Since then, the organizations and individuals supported by OSI have made great strides. There are real debates underway about the death penalty and harsh drug laws, resulting in significant reforms and advances in several states. There is a growing movement to reduce the incidence of incarceration and to provide meaningful assistance to former prisoners returning to society. There is more effective delivery of legal services to the poor and a strong network of state and national organizations supporting access to impartial courts. At the same time, however, other serious challenges to the U.S. system of justice—the crackdown on immigrants, detention without due process of thousands at Guantanamo Bay, and expansion of government surveillance powers—have emerged in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

In response to these new challenges, OSI in early 2004 completed a process of reassessment and readjustment that led to the creation of two distinct but related initiatives, the U.S. Justice Fund and the Strategic Opportunities Fund.

Through the U.S. Justice Fund, which was created by combining a number of initiatives, OSI's U.S. Programs will stay the course—and expand in some instances—on criminal and civil justice issues, particularly now that the foundation has been joined by other funders that share OSI’s sense of need and see an opportunity to respond to the profound challenges to civil liberties posed by a government that views the Bill of Rights as expendable.

The Strategic Opportunities Fund builds on many of OSI’s prior investments by providing grants to support key policies and grassroots organizations advancing a progressive agenda. It seeks to increase support for progressive leaders—many of whom have emerged from OSI’s fellowship programs—and progressive ideas that deserve a wider audience. The fund also strengthens the capacity of key organizations by providing increased technical assistance in the fields of communications and organizational management. It provides more flexible funds for rapid response to emerging open society challenges—such as providing special grants to educate the public about right-wing efforts to stack the federal judiciary and the impact of federal budget and tax cuts on state and local services and programs.

OSI is working not only through grantmaking, convening, and other traditional foundation approaches, but also through a policy office in Washington, D.C. that advances civil liberties and criminal justice reforms and works with a broad coalition of nongovernmental organizations to promote more constructive global engagement by the United States. OSI’s fellowship programs, OSI-Baltimore, and Youth Initiatives will continue until 2006.