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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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Florida Becomes the Next Stop for Jim Crow with Passage of Anti-Voter, Anti-Democracy Bill
(Tallahassee, Fla.) - The Florida State Legislature passed SB90 late Thursday night, a bill that makes voting by mail significantly more difficult, places unnecessary limits on ballot drop boxes, makes it harder to register to vote, and gives partisan poll watchers...
North Carolina Judge Refuses to Release Full Body Camera Footage in Andrew Brown Jr. Death
(Washington, D.C.) – A North Carolina judge on Wednesday declined to release body camera footage in the shooting of Andrew Brown. The following is a statement from Damon Hewitt, acting president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under...
Education and Civil Rights Groups Urge Congress to use the Federal Budget to Increase Access to Integrated and Inclusive Schools
Congress must use the fiscal year 2022 budget to support communities in their efforts to promote racial and socioeconomic integration in their public schools a letter sent to several congressional leaders Monday says. As our nation becomes increasingly diverse, it is...
Reapportionment Data Indicates Smallest Number of Shifting Seats with Gains in Florida, Texas
(Washington, D.C.) – The U.S. Census Bureau released its congressional apportionment population counts and number of representatives for each of the 50 states, in addition to resident population counts for every state in the country, the District of Columbia and...
Biden Administration Puts a Stop to Trump-Era Transgender Housing Discrimination
(Washington, D.C.) — Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge withdrew a Trump-era rule that would allow federally funded single-sex shelters to discriminate against tenants based on gender identity. Proposed last July, the rule would have rolled back...
Civil Rights and Grassroots Groups Take Action to Halt Mass Displacement in Norfolk
(Washington D.C.) — The city of Norfolk and the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority (NRHA) are perpetuating residential racial segregation by implementing their unlawful redevelopment plan for public housing in the St. Paul’s Quadrant, according to...
Civil Rights Groups, Civic Organizations, Tribal and Local Governments Secure Broad Resolution in Census Lawsuit
Civil rights groups, civic organizations, and tribal and local governments have secured and presented to the court for approval a final resolution in the federal lawsuit that stopped the federal government from severely truncating and skewing the results of the 2020...
Addressing Rise in Hate Crimes Targeting Asian Communities, Senate Passes COVID-19 Hate Crimes Bill and NO HATE Act
(Washington, D.C.) – In an overwhelming bipartisan vote on Thursday, the Senate passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act which included the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act as an amendment. The following is a statement from Damon Hewitt, acting president and executive director of...
Senate Confirmation of Vanita Gupta as Associate Attorney General is Historic, Vital for our Nation
(Washington, D.C.) - In a historic bipartisan vote today, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Vanita Gupta to the role of associate attorney general, the third highest-ranking position in the U.S. Department of Justice. Gupta is now the first woman of color ever to be...
Settlement Agreement: Black NC Community Members’ Right to Protest Protected in Federal Court
(Raleigh N.C.) – United States District Court Judge Catherine Eagles entered a consent order and judgment today designed to protect the First Amendment rights of peaceful protestors to protest in front of the Alamance County courthouse, lawyers for the plaintiffs have...
Blog: Fair Housing is an Intersectional Fight for Freedom
Every April we celebrate National Fair Housing Month and the passage of the Fair Housing Act, a robust civil rights act enacted in 1968 that prohibits discrimination in the access of housing. On the surface, fair housing could simply mean accessibility to quality...
Chauvin Conviction is Long-Awaited, but Does Not Fix the Problem of Structural Racism in Policing
(MINNEAPOLIS) - The Hennepin County District Court announced Tuesday that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted by a jury for the murder of George Floyd. The verdict comes nearly a year after the horrific incident, and amid a growing national...
FTC Declares Racially Biased Algorithms in Artificial Intelligence Unfair and Deceptive, Prohibited by Law
(Washington, D.C.) - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published guidance to businesses Monday that states definitively that if a business uses a discriminatory algorithm to make automated decisions, they may be violating federal...
Indianapolis Shooting Illustrates Pattern of Violence and Hate
(Washington, D.C.) — Eight people were shot and killed at an Indianapolis FedEx facility last week by a former employee. Four of the eight victims belonged to the Sikh religious community. The attack in Indiana's state capital, also the third largest city in the...
As the Police Killings of Black Americans Mount, the Justice in Policing Act Must be Passed Now
(Washington, D.C.) - This past week, Daunte Wright was shot and killed in Minneapolis, and in Chicago police released the footage of the fatal shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo. These events also come on the heels of the Derek Chauvin trial, and recently surfaced...