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Civil Rights Leaders Issue Statement on U.S. Senate’s Failure to Pass Voting Rights Legislation
Leading civil rights organizations issued the following joint statement in response to the double atrocity committed in the Senate tonight, both in blocking a vote on the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act and in failing to change Senate rules to prevent such...
Senate’s Failure Does Not Mark the End of Fight for Voting Rights
(Washington, D.C.) - In the wake of the first anniversary of the January 6 insurrection, for the first time during the 117th Congress, the Senate debated the substance of the combined Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The Senate...
Black Virginians Must Remain Vigilant to Ensure Fair Representation
(Washington, D.C.) – Virginia’s newly-enacted statewide redistricting maps appear to largely maintain current levels of representation for Virginia’s Black communities, but continued vigilance is needed to ensure Black Virginians’ ability to elect candidates of choice...
Lawyers’ Committee Recognizes the Lessons and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
(Washington, D.C.) –Monday, January 17, commemorates the life and legacy of the great civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr. MLK Day recognizes Dr. King’s legacy of service and activism while also serving as an inspiration for us all to contribute to our...
Civil Rights Groups Call on Senate to Take Immediate Action on Voting Rights
January 13, 2022 WASHINGTON — Leading civil rights organizations released the following joint statement urging senators to be on the right side of history and pass the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act: “History will judge senators for what they do to protect voting...
Biden and the Promise of Voting Rights
(Washington, D.C.) –President Joe Biden delivered a speech in Atlanta Tuesday that focused on the recently erected barriers to voting rights at the state level and the urgency of passing critical federal voting rights legislation. The following is a statement from...
Chicago Police Department Must Swiftly Address Officer with Ties to the Proud Boys
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights called on the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and other Chicago officials to update the community on the status of investigations into CPD officer Robert Bakker, who has...
Lawyers’ Committee Joins Michelle Obama, When We All Vote in Fight For Our Vote Pledge
(WASHINGTON, DC): Dozens of the country’s most prominent civil and voting rights organizations are banding together to organize and turn out voters in the 2022 midterm elections and fight against voter suppression. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law...
Civil Rights Giant Lani Guinier Was a Champion for a Free and Fair Society
(Washington, DC) – The civil rights community mourns the loss of Professor Lani Guinier, a voting rights champion, whose litigation, policy analysis, and scholarship on race, elections, and democracy inspired generations of advocates. The first woman of color to be...
Ahmaud Arbery’s murderers sentenced to life in prison
(Washington, D.C.) - A Georgia judge has sentenced a trio of vigilantes convicted of hunting down and murdering Ahmaud Arbery to life in prison earlier on Friday. A father and son duo were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, while their neighbor who...
National Civil Rights Groups Issue Statement on Anniversary of Jan. 6 Insurrection
Today marks one year since a mob of insurrectionists attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election through a violent breach of the U.S. Capitol. In recognition of this anniversary, the leaders of the nation’s top historic civil rights...
January 6th Was an Attack on Democracy Itself
(Washington, D.C.) — One year ago, on January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol Police officers faced a violent mob intent on interrupting the peaceful transfer of presidential power. They were driven by white supremacist rhetoric and intentional misinformation aimed at...
Federal Court Upholds Illinois Redistricting Plan that Gerrymandered Black Voters in East St. Louis Area
(Washington, D.C.) - Illinois lawmakers’ actions breaking apart the cohesive Black community in the East St. Louis area in order to advance their partisan political interests was upheld on Thursday, with a panel of three federal judges ruling that plaintiffs failed to...
Georgia’s Racial Gerrymander Limits the Voting Rights of People of Color
(Atlanta, GA) — The Georgia General Assembly approved redistricting maps for the state house, the state senate, and U.S. Congress that are based on the unconstitutional and impermissible use of race. These racially gerrymandered maps dilute the voting strength of...
Desmond Tutu, Anti-Apartheid Giant Passes Away at 90
(Washington, D.C.) Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a moral leader in South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement, passed away at 90. A powerful voice for nonviolence and peaceful reconciliation after the fall of apartheid South Africa, Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in...