Newsroom

Numerous studies make it clear that minority students are more likely to be stereotyped as violent and singled out for disproportionate disciplinary action, said Kristen Clarke, the president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law.

From the civil rights movement of the 1960s to the inspiring students protesting gun violence today, young activists have grasped the nation’s attention at important moments in our history. Yet these brave students have also been met with resistance, including from school administrators and elected officials. If history is any indication, attempts to silence these young activists will not succeed.

Dorian Spence, an attorney for the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said the traffic pattern is not meant to keep vehicles flowing as city officials have said, but instead is designed to make Bikefest so unpleasant that the mostly-black visitors won’t return.

“We’ve been here before, but mostly importantly, we’ve known this tactic has been used before,” said Dorian Spence, director of Special Litigation, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “And we’ve defeated this tactic before.”

Policymakers and the public should treat the recent wave of hate-motivated violence toward trans women of color as the national crisis it is. It is an epidemic that strikes at the heart of the freedoms we share, and it is getting worse.

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law announced Wednesday that it filed an injunction trying to bar the state from using the boundaries late Tuesday. The group, along with the Georgia NAACP, is suing the state in federal court over redistricting done for the Grayson-area legislative district.