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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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Obama-era reforms are actually improving law enforcement. So why is Trump ending them?
Trump’s record of backing away from criminal justice reform is already disturbingly clear.
The Trump Administration Just Derailed a Key Obama Rule on Housing Segregation
The Trump administration is rolling back the deadline for a key rule on fair housing made into law under President Barack Obama—a change with potentially broad consequences for racial segregation.
Trump Closes Voter Fraud Panel That Bickered More Than It Revealed
"I think you’re going to see a lot of different issues pop up that will give judges and the public pause,” Jon Greenbaum, the chief counsel at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Condemns President’s Call To DHS To Review Unfounded Claims of Voter Fraud
WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Trump on Wednesday issued an Executive Order dissolving the ill-conceived Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. The President’s action was the result of the transparency forced on the Commission by litigation brought by...
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Responds To The Disbanding Of The Sham Voter Commission
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, released the following statement Wednesday after President Trump shut down the flawed Presidential Commission on Election Integrity, a...
Nine Civil Rights Organizations Led By Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law File Amicus Brief In Support Of Lawsuits Challenging Trump Administration’s Move To End DACA Program
WASHINGTON, D.C – A coalition of civil rights and social justice organizations led by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law recently filed an amicus brief in support of two consolidated lawsuits, including a lawsuit brought by attorneys general from 16...
Federal Judge Issues Preliminary Injunction Against U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Lawsuit Brought by Coalition of Civil Rights Organizations
Washington, D.C. – In an important decision for low-income renters nationwide, U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell on Saturday rejected the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) move to suspend a rule designed to provide greater housing...
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Condemns DOJ’s Decision to Revoke Critical Legal Guidance Documents
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, issued the following statement reacting to news of the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision to revoke 25 critical legal guidance documents,...
On Tuesday, Civil Rights Groups To Present Argument In Lawsuit Against U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Over Suspension Of Rule Assisting Low-Income Families
Washington, D.C. – On Tuesday morning, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, a broad coalition of civil rights organizations will present oral argument in a case challenging the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) suspension of...
The GOP’s Weapon of Suppression: Voter Purges
In January, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that challenges Ohio’s practice of initiating the voter purge process for voters who have simply failed to show up to vote over a single election cycle. The case, Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute, hinges on whether Ohio’s law violates the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, which bars the removal of a voter from the rolls “by reason of the person’s failure to vote.”
“I am deeply concerned that if the Supreme Court sides with Ohio in this case, we will see states taking a copy-cat approach, and taking steps to gut the NVRA and gut the voter rolls across the country,” says Kristen Clarke, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. In October, a lawsuit initiated by the Lawyers’ Committee forced the New York City Board of Elections to admit that it had broken state and federal laws by removing more than 200,000 voters from the city rolls before last year’s presidential primary.
Judge Finds Louisiana’s Debtors’ Prison Scheme Violates Core Constitutional Rights of New Orleans’ Poorest Citizens
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal district judge on Wednesday ruled that a debtors’ prison scheme run by the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court (OPCDC) that fails to consider an indigent individual’s ability to pay court debts before jailing them violates core...
Judge Finalizes Voter Purge Settlement
A settlement stemming from the New York City Board of Elections’ illegal voter purge is now official. A federal judge signed the consent decree Wednesday, which starts the clock ticking for the Board to complete a series of remedial steps. The board must review all the names of voters purged since July 1, 2013 and restore any voter who was removed in violation of state or federal election law. It also has to create a comprehensive remedial plan within 90 days that addresses the specific violations of the Election Law. If all parties don’t agree to the board’s plan, it could go back to court.
“This sort of consent decree could very well serve as a model for other jurisdictions that present the same problems as New York City did,” said Ezra Rosenberg, with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under law.
National Civil Rights Leaders Urge Congress to Appoint an African American Senator to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Washington, D.C. – A broad coalition of civil rights and racial justice organizations, led by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, on Wednesday sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader, Charles Schumer (D-NY), urging Senate leadership to appoint an...
National Election Protection Hotline Receives Calls from Alabama Voters Reporting Voter Intimidation and Mass Voter Confusion Tactics at the Polls Statewide
Hotline Led by Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Fielded Calls from Voters during Pivotal Alabama Senate Race WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Alabama voters went to the polls for a pivotal special election for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by AG Jeff Sessions. ...