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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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Louisiana High Court Races Rigged Against Blacks, NAACP Says
Louisiana’s method for electing justices to its state Supreme Court is rigged against black voters, the state chapter of the NAACP said in a lawsuit. “Although the voting-age population of Louisiana is approximately 30% African American,” the state “has had only two...
Miami Officials: Most People who Owe Fines and Fees Can Vote
A coalition of powerful players in Miami-Dade County’s legal system is coming together on Monday to claim that the vast majority of people with a felony conviction in the county are likely to be able to register to vote, even if they still owe court fines and fees....
Lawsuit challenges Louisiana Supreme Court districts
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The maps used to elect Louisiana’s seven state Supreme Court justices are discriminatory against African American voters, according to a civil rights group’s lawsuit filed Tuesday. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge seeks a...
FBI Abandons Use of Term ‘Black Identity Extremism’
WASHINGTON—The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s director said the bureau has abandoned the term “black identity extremism” as part of a broad reconceptualization of how it thinks about racially motivated crime. In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, FBI...
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Files Voting Rights Lawsuit Against Louisiana Over Discriminatory Maps for State Supreme Court
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 23, 2019 Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Files Voting Rights Lawsuit Against Louisiana Over Discriminatory Maps for State Supreme Court Only 2 African Americans Elected to State’s Highest Court Since 1904, Suit Seeks to Address...
Women of Color: Society’s Most Marginalized
In a stunning act of xenophobia and outright racism, President Trump told four Congresswomen of color to “go back” to the countries they came from, disregarding the fact that all four are American citizens.
Exposing Trump’s Racism
Today's guest hosts are Charlotte Hancock, Communications Director for Generation Progress, and Brent Cohen, Executive Director of Generation Progress and the VP of the Center for American Progress. They discuss two very important and timely topics during today's...
Activists Wary As South Georgia County Moves To Close Three Polling Places
Voting in elections next year could be more difficult in one rural, South Georgia county. The Randolph County elections board plans to close three of its nine polling places nearly a year after it rejected a proposal months before the midterm elections in...
Former Law Clerk Responds to Death of Justice John Paul Stevens
Teresa Wynn Roseborough, Board Member of Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Former Law Clerk of Justice Stevens, Offers Reflections Washington, D.C. – Following the death of former Justice John Paul Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court, Lawyers' Committee...
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Response to Justice Department’s Decision to Not Prosecute N.Y.P.D. Officer Responsible for Death of Eric Garner
Washington, D.C. – In response to the Justice Department’s decision to not pursue federal charges against a New York City Police Officer in the death of Eric Garner, Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under...
Report Says Underfunded Justice System Helps Drive Oklahoma’s High Incarceration Rate
A new report says Oklahoma’s underfunded criminal justice system is a big reason the state puts so many people in prison. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law report says courts are underfunded by the state — in some cases, getting just 10% of their...
Marijuana Laws in America: Racial Justice and the Need for Reform
It’s time for a change in marijuana policy. The 600,000 people arrested last year for the possession of marijuana are ready for a change. Over 65 percent of the American population has responded to surveys asking for a change. The panelists speaking at Wednesday’s...
Civil Rights Group Releases Report Alleging Focus On Revenue-Generation By Oklahoma’s Criminal Justice System Increases Poverty And Mass Incarceration
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new report from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, released today, alleges that Oklahoma funds its public justice system almost entirely by levying heavy fines and multiple fees against the state’s poorest residents. The practice...
National Civil Rights Group Responds to President’s New Action on Citizenship Question
Washington, D.C. – Today, in response to President Trump’s announcement that he will instruct federal agencies to gather information regarding citizenship through administration records and not through the 2020 Census, Kristen Clarke, president and executive director...
Enforcing Poverty: Oklahoma’s Reliance on Fines & Fees
Though debtors’ prisons are by law unconstitutional, recent decades have seen a marked rise in the number of individuals who are nonetheless incarcerated for failing to pay either public or private debts. The 1980s and 1990s marked a significant increase in the number...