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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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Election Protection Brief: The Caucuses and the Right to Vote
Brief 2: The Caucuses and the Right to Vote During this 2016 election cycle, hundreds of voters have reached out to Election Protection’s 866-OUR-VOTE hotline seeking help with voting in the caucuses. This brief and interactive multimedia map describe the caucus...
Election Protection Releases Brief and Multimedia Map, “The Caucuses Impact the Right to Vote”, to Explore Caucus Voting in Election 2016
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Election Protection, the nation’s largest nonpartisan voter protection coalition, releases, “The Caucuses and the Right to Vote” – a brief and interactive multimedia map describing the caucus voter’s experience in 2016 and calling for more...
SEPTA Background Checks Violate Federal and State Laws, According to Lawyers’ Committee and Co-Counsel
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new federal lawsuit alleges Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) willfully violates federal and state laws when conducting criminal background checks of prospective employees. Filed in federal court in Philadelphia, the class...
Voters Continued to Face Challenges During the April 26 Primary Elections
Washington, D.C. – The nationwide nonpartisan Election Protection voter hotline, 866-OUR-VOTE, received nearly 600 calls as voters in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Delaware made their voices heard during their primaries. The hotline received...
Lawyers’ Committee Troubled by Court’s Decision to Uphold North Carolina’s Monster Voter Suppression Law
Statement from Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director Washington, D.C., April 26, 2016 – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee) is disappointed by today’s ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North...
Removing Roadblocks to Voting
To the Editor: As your editorial notes, voting is far too complicated and inconvenient in many states. From restrictive photo ID laws, to unnecessary proof of citizenship requirements, to cuts on early voting and confusing partisan primary rules, we are seeing a...
National Lawyers’ Committee Applauds Virginia Governor’s Action Restoring Voting Rights to More Than 200,000 People
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee) praises Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe for restoring the right to vote to more than 200,000 people who have completed their full sentence, including probation and parole. His...
Landmark $15M settlement in Census Bureau background-check lawsuit
"What makes it landmark is the scope of the settlement and the number of impacted individuals," said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, one of the attorneys in the case. Clarke estimated 70...
National Lawyers’ Committee Issues Statement on U.S. Department of Education’s Agreement with Oklahoma City Public Schools
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Education reached an agreement with the Oklahoma City Public Schools to address disproportionate discipline of black students after an investigation revealed that black students were significantly overrepresented in...
New York Primary: Chaos at Polling Sites, Broken Scanners & Whole Blocks Purged from Voter Rolls
Tuesday’s voting in the New York primary was marked by chaos, particularly in Brooklyn, as tens of thousands of voters found their names had been removed from the polling rolls or that they were unable to vote at their polling station. We speak to Kristen Clarke,...
New York Voters Encounter Barriers to the Ballot Box During the April 19 Presidential Primary
Party Affiliation Challenges, Delayed Openings at Polling Places and Machine Failures Plagued Primary Election WASHINGTON, D.C. – The nationwide nonpartisan Election Protection voter hotline, 866-OUR-VOTE, received over 900 calls from New Yorkers during the April 19...
Landmark Settlement Secured in Case Against U.S. Census Bureau Involving Discriminatory Employment Barriers Faced By Job Applicants with Criminal Backgrounds
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Penny Pritzker, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, has entered into a landmark class action settlement with African American and Latino plaintiffs whose applications for more than a million temporary jobs for the 2010 decennial census...
Housing for Ex-Offenders
To the Editor: Re “Federal Housing Officials Warn Against Blanket Bans of Ex-Offenders” (news article, April 4): The new Department of Housing and Urban Development guidance is a major step forward in addressing the effect of mass incarceration and ensuring that...
National Lawyers’ Committee Issues Statement on U.S. v. Texas
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 18, 2016 – Today, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in the United States v. Texas case, reviewing two Obama administration programs – Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the Deferred Action for Parents of...
As Voters Head to the Polls for the New York Primary Elections, Election Protection to Provide Critical Assistance
Toll-Free Hotline (866-OUR-VOTE) Available Now; Live Assistance on Primary Election Day Washington, D.C. – Tomorrow, as New York voters prepare to cast ballots for the April 19 primary election, Election Protection, the nation’s largest nonpartisan voter protection...