I HEARD FOUNDATION
EIN: 33-4580620
I HEARD FOUNDATION – Building Legal Empowerment Together
I HEARD FOUNDATION is a registered nonprofit organization dedicated to providing legal empowerment and support to underserved communities. We focus on empowering people facing criminal and immigration cases with legal tools and community support.
We are a newly formed nonprofit dedicated to giving people facing criminal and immigration cases the tools to understand their rights and how case law works. Our platform is under active development, and this site is our public workspace to share progress, goals, and needs. We recognize how confusing and foreign court processes can feel, so we aim to make it as simple as possible for the average person to do at least the bare minimum—compare their case to others like it and mirror what was successfully done there.
We are building an accessible legal-tech platform that puts knowledge and tools directly in the hands of the people most affected by the justice system.
Case Comparison Tools – search real case outcomes so anyone can see how similar charges were handled.
Document Builder – create motions and filings step-by-step, without expensive software or legal jargon.
Plain-Language Statute Library – laws explained clearly, so every reader can understand their rights and options.
Community & Volunteer Network – real people offering guidance, resources, and lived experience.
This movement goes beyond a website. We are raising funds and partnerships to:
Equip offline networks and mini-PC kiosks so the platform can run inside prisons and jails.
Build community computer labs where families and loved ones can research cases, share information, and support one another.
Create a scalable system that can integrate with existing prison-kiosk technology, ensuring access even where internet is limited.
A core part of our mission is youth involvement. We invite students and young adults to learn every layer of this work by:
Exploring case law and understanding how the justice system functions,
Gaining hands-on experience in technology, coding, and platform development, and
Contributing fresh ideas to build a fairer, more connected legal future.
From day one, our goal has been simple but powerful: a movement made by the people, for the people. We believe that when knowledge of the law is open and shared, communities can fight for justice together—inside and outside the walls—while inspiring the next generation to carry the work forward.
We are in the development phase, turning our vision into a working platform. So far, we have already achieved key milestones:
Held a successful strategy meeting with CourtListener, securing access to their comprehensive state and federal case database.
Begun importing real case data and connecting it to plain-language statutes so users can explore cases and the laws behind them.
What’s happening right now:
Building the first version of our website and database.
Testing an offline “kiosk” proof-of-concept for jails and community centers.
Establishing long-term funding and partnerships to support hardware, hosting, and future expansion.
These accomplishments give us the foundation to launch a powerful legal-tech platform once we finish importing the data and refining the tools.
Volunteers – writers, developers, legal researchers, outreach coordinators
Funding Partners & Donors – seed funding for hosting, hardware, and pilot programs
Advisors – legal professionals, technologists, and community leaders
I HEARD FOUNDATION was started by someone who has lived through the prison system and knows firsthand how difficult it is to navigate case law from behind the wall. Inside prison, the only option was the law library—but even that came with obstacles. You had to drop a request slip just to get access, wait your turn, and when you finally made it in, much of the information was outdated or incomplete. For many, that meant fighting legal battles with broken tools.
That experience became the seed of this movement: to build a better alternative. We want to create a more complete, up-to-date legal system that doesn’t just sit on a shelf, but one that can be accessed directly—even from a cell.
This mission is also deeply connected to immigration. Our founder’s own case was tied to immigration proceedings, and we’ve experienced firsthand the complexity and challenges of immigration law. In one case, a co-defendant was released from an immigration facility after using a manual case comparison strategy. That victory showed us how powerful access to knowledge can be, and why immigration support is at the heart of this foundation’s work.
I HEARD FOUNDATION exists because we know the struggle from both sides—criminal and immigration—and we are committed to turning that lived experience into tools that empower others to fight for their freedom and rights.
For questions, collaboration, or to get involved:
📧 Email: info@iheardfoundation.org
This is the official website of I HEARD FOUNDATION.