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Welcome to the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law’s Newsroom. This page contains our press releases, news clips and blog posts.
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ICE Wants To Be Like IRS: Audit And Arrest Business Owners Who Employ Undocumented Immigrants
Experts worry that these raids could create a culture of fear that stop immigrants from finding legitimate jobs and hurt surrounding communities. “I’m most concerned about the impact on workers and people who are looking for jobs and looking for a way to feed their families,” Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, told CityLab.
Distance, language can still pose challenge to Native American voting
[V]oting can still be a challenge for Native Americans, who may face language barriers, registration difficulties and a lack of access to polling places and government services that can ease the voting process. “It’s an issue that often gets overlooked,” Arusha Gordon, voting rights counsel for the Lawyers Committee said. “They (tribes) never get as many resources directed towards them.”
Election Protection to Assist Nebraska Voters for their May 15 Primary Election
Toll-Free Hotline (866-OUR-VOTE) Assistance Available on Primary Election Day WASHINGTON, DC -- On Tuesday, May 15, 2018 Nebraska voters will head out to the polls to vote in the state primary elections. Election Protection(EP) – the nation’s largest nonpartisan...
PNC CEO honored for promoting diversity and equal opportunity in the workplace
William Demchak, chairman, president and CEO of Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group Inc., will receive the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law’s 2018 A. Leon Higginbotham Corporate Leadership Award for exemplary corporate leadership in promoting diversity and equal opportunity in the workplace. “On behalf of PNC and its 53,000 employees, I am both proud and honored to receive the Higginbotham Award,” Demchak said in a prepared statement. “At PNC, our commitment to diversity and inclusion is one of the defining qualities of our corporate culture and of how we engage with our customers and communities.”
PNC CEO honored for promoting diversity and equal opportunity in the workplace
William Demchak, chairman, president and CEO of Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group Inc., will receive the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law’s 2018 A. Leon Higginbotham Corporate Leadership Award for exemplary corporate leadership in promoting diversity and equal opportunity in the workplace. “On behalf of PNC and its 53,000 employees, I am both proud and honored to receive the Higginbotham Award,” Demchak said in a prepared statement. “At PNC, our commitment to diversity and inclusion is one of the defining qualities of our corporate culture and of how we engage with our customers and communities.
Ben Carson and Housing Department sued for derailing housing segregation rule
“The 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule (AFFH) is a critical part of ongoing work to address structural racism and inequality today. Through this lawsuit, we are taking action to hold HUD accountable and ensure that HUD fulfills its mission of addressing ongoing racial segregation and housing discrimination which persist across the country today,” said Kristen Clarke. The complaint, filed on behalf of The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), Texas Appleseed, and Texas Low Income Housing Information Service, alleges that HUD unlawfully suspended the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule of 2015, a key provision of the Fair Housing Act passed in 1968, effectively removing civil rights oversight of as much as $5.5 billion per year until 2024 or later for almost 1,000 jurisdictions.
Housing Advocates Sue HUD Over Fair Housing Rule Suspension
The complaint also argues that HUD is violating its own duty under the Fair Housing Act to affirmatively further fair housing. Thomas Silverstein, co-counsel on the suit and part of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said that multiple court decisions shortly after the Fair Housing Act was passed held that affirmatively furthering fair housing “is not an optional feature in the FHA, it’s a clear duty placed on HUD and its grantees.”
Texas groups join in lawsuit targeting Trump housing practices
“The 2015 (rule) is a critical part of ongoing work to address structural racism and inequality today,” said Kristen Clarke, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, whose firm is involved in the suit. “Through this lawsuit, we are taking action to hold HUD accountable and ensure that HUD fulfills its mission of addressing ongoing racial segregation and housing discrimination which persist across the country today.”
Can Shutting Down Online Hate Sites Curb Violence?
“We know that so much hate that we see today originates online,” Kristen Clarke said. “It originates in dangerous platforms and online hubs that provide a space to people to essentially coordinate violence and incite people to violence.”
HUD, Carson Sued For Suspending Obama-Era Desegregation Rule
“With this lawsuit, the civil rights community is standing up to Secretary Ben Carson and fighting back against an egregious attempt to roll back a hard fought victory,” the group’s President Kristen Clarke said in the statement. “The 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule is a critical part of ongoing work to address structural racism and inequality today. Through this lawsuit, we are taking action to hold HUD accountable and ensure that HUD fulfills its mission of addressing ongoing racial segregation and housing discrimination which persist across the country today.”
Civil Rights Groups Sue HUD over Suspended Implementation of Fair Housing Rule
Civil Rights Groups Sue HUD over Suspended Implementation of Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule Read the full complaint here. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Washington, D.C.–The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), Texas Appleseed, and Texas Low Income Housing...
Groups to Sue Ben Carson Over Delay of Anti-Segregation Rule
“The rule that was put into place was adopted after careful thought and consideration, and expensive input from the public, and time after time we are seeing this administration violate the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, whose firm is involved in the suit. “Secretary Ben Carson is abdicating his responsibility to fulfill HUD’s mission.”
Election Protection to Help Voters for the May 8, 2016 Primary Election in Ohio
Toll-Free Hotline (866-OUR-VOTE) Assistance Available on Primary Election Day WASHINGTON, DC -- On Tuesday, May 8, 2018 Ohio voters will head out to the polls to vote in the state primary elections. Election Protection(EP) – the nation’s largest nonpartisan voter...
Lawsuits present challenge for neo-Nazi Daily Stormer site
Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee, explained that her organisation hopes to “send a strong message to white supremacists and the alt-right” with the lawsuit. “No person should be subject to this kind of racial harassment and treatment. Across the US, we are seeing a spike in vicious hate crimes targeting racial minorities, and young people are especially vulnerable.”
GoDaddy drops Richard Spencer’s altright.com website, alleging it promoted violence
A civil rights group, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said it sent a letter last month to GoDaddy CEO Scott Wagner requesting that the company take action against altright.com. The letter argued, partly, that the website was “actively inciting violence, particularly against racial and ethnic minorities.” Spencer denied that.





