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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.
We have subject matter experts on civil rights issues ready to handle inquiries from journalists on such issues as voting rights, criminal justice, economic justice, fair housing, educational opportunity, racial justice matters and more.
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‘It smells like a decomposing body’: North Carolina’s polluting pig farms
After years of burying neighbours’ complaints about illegal spraying of hog manure, state officials suddenly began posting them online. What changed?
Fifth Circuit Rules New Orleans Debtors’ Prison Scheme Violates Constitutional Rights of the City’s Poorest Citizens
Washington, D.C. — The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday that the debtors’ prison scheme run by the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court (OPCDC), where indigent people are jailed for being unable to pay court debts, gives judges an unconstitutional...
Creating a ‘domestic terrorism’ charge would actually hurt communities of color
In the wake of the horrific mass murder this month in El Paso, in which a gunman killed 22 people and wounded dozens of others, Americans have understandably sought ways to prevent such tragedies. In particular, some have called for making “domestic...
National Civil Rights Organization Opposes Efforts to Gut Civil Rights Protections Under the Affordable Care Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed a comment opposing the Trump Administration’s proposed rule to limit civil rights protections in health care under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. The proposed rule, which was issued...
Voting Rights Advocates Applaud Reversal of Jeff Davis County’s Closure of Polling Place in Majority-Minority Precinct
County’s Decision in Response to Demand Letter Issued by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Advocacy by Georgia Organizations WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, the Jeff Davis County Board of Elections and Registrars voted to re-open a polling place in the...
Groups seek to block Tennessee voter signup penalties law
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Several voter registration organizations are asking a judge to stop Tennessee’s new restrictions for signing up voters from taking effect in October, saying the law has already curtailed their ability to enroll voters in communities of color and...
Voting Rights Advocates Demand Answers Regarding Voter Purges at Decatur Mental Health and Wellness Facility
Demand Letter Issued by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Georgia ACLU on Behalf of Georgia Organizations WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, voting rights advocates sent a letter to members of the DeKalb County Board of Elections demanding answers...
The Department of Housing and Urban Development Propose New Rule Aimed At Weakening Ability to File Discrimination Claims
HUD Proposes New Rule That Would Gut the Fair Housing Act Washington, D.C. – The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) formally proposed a rule today that would severely undercut the ability of people of color, women, people with disabilities, and other...
New York Police Department Announces Decision to Fire Officer Involved in the Death of Eric Garner
Washington, D.C. – Following news of the termination of NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo, Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, issued the following statement in response: “This termination was long...
Leading Civil Rights Organizations File a Motion for a Preliminary Injunction to Prevent the State of Tennessee from Implementing an Anti-Democratic Voter Suppression Law
On August 16, The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and its pro bono partner Hogan Lovells US, LLP, filed a motion for an immediate preliminary injunction to prevent the state of Tennessee from implementing a voter suppression law signed by the Governor...
Federal Judge In Georgia Issues Historic Decision Declaring State’s Voting System To Be Invalid For 2020 Elections
Washington, D.C. – Today, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Coalition for Good Governance, and counsel Bruce Brown, Cary Ichter, and Rob McGuire, secured a landmark voting rights decision from a federal district court. United States District Court...
Woman awarded $725,000 in suit against neo-Nazi website founder
Nooses appeared around campus after Taylor Dumpson became the first black woman to serve as student government president at American University in Washington, D.C. That was on her first day in office in 2017. But she might be getting closure this week.
City of Atlanta, Georgia and Arlington County, Virginia Join Intervention Motion in Census Litigation Against Trump Administration
Washington, D.C. — The City of Atlanta, Georgia and Arlington County, Virginia yesterday filed a motion to intervene in pending litigation brought by the State of Alabama challenging the U.S. Census Bureau’s long-standing practice of counting all people, regardless of...
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Praises Coalition of AG’s Continuing to Support Liberians Living in the United States
Washington, D.C. – The Trump Administration recently filed a motion to dismiss in the lawsuit African Communities Together v Trump, challenging the administration’s proposed termination of Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for Liberians. A coalition of attorneys...
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Condemns DOJ Change in Position on ADA Litigation Before Supreme Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, issued the following statement on the U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) change in position on an Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) case...