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Newsroom

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.

Looking to arrange an interview or book a speaker? Contact press@lawyerscommittee.org

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New lawsuit on ‘debtor prison’ practices in White County

Aug 9, 2018 |

The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights had said early today it would file a class action lawsuit over sentencing practices in White County District Judge Mark Derrick’s court that it says amount to unconstitutional debtors’ prison. He ran for office in 2016 boasting of the high fines he’d impose and, according to the suit, jails people for failure to pay without assessing their ability to pay.

What’s At Stake For Black America With President Trump’s Current Supreme Court Nomination

Aug 8, 2018 |

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable.”
This admonition from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is one that African Americans should take to heart amid the pending debate over President Donald Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to succeed Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. With the legal gains of the civil rights movement under relentless attack by this administration, the stakes of this nomination could not be higher for our community. The Court that emerges out of this fight will determine the trajectory of civil rights and racial justice for generations to come. This is a moment to be vocal and vigilant about protecting the gains we’ve made.

Federal Judge Rules Against Imprisoning Those Who Can’t Pay Court Fees

Aug 7, 2018 |

The decision by Judge Vance concludes a three-year lawsuit against the OPCDC and the “debtors’ prison” practice, that the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law has argued unfairly impacts the poor which make up nearly all criminal defendants in New Orleans. “We believe this judgement will have an effect across the state of Louisiana,” Myesha Braden, Director of the Criminal Justice Project at the Lawyers’ Committee, told NPR.

Trump administration has Voting Rights Act on life support

Aug 6, 2018 |

As we celebrate the 53rd anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, which vastly improved voter turnout, this country is at a crucial juncture in the centuries-long struggle to create, maintain, preserve, and ensure true equality of voting rights for members of minority populations. That we are still concerned about this well into the 21st century is incredible. That we, especially those of us who work to make voting readily accessible to all, are even more concerned than we were five years ago — when the Supreme Court gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby v. Holder — is frightening.

Kemp defends Georgia’s ‘exact match’ voter registration law

Aug 6, 2018 |

“Georgia’s ‘no match, no vote’ policy has already disenfranchised tens of thousands of eligible voters and has had a particularly onerous effect on minorities and the poor,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, in a statement July 19.

Federal Judge blocks New Orleans from jailing Black folks who are unable to pay fines

Aug 5, 2018 |

“This is a victory for the people of New Orleans and for those committed to fixing the breaks in the criminal justice system,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “America treats being poor as a crime, disproportionately victimizing people of color. This ruling ensures that people can no longer be thrown in jail in Orleans Parish for their poverty alone.”

It’s time for an online Civil Rights Act

Aug 3, 2018 |

Today’s white supremacist and neo-Nazi social media trolls have much in common with the angry mobs that beat civil rights activists at lunch counters, defaced houses of worship and stood in the schoolhouse door. Both then and now, these hateful forces sought to disenfranchise and exclude minorities and women from modern society. The tech industry has catalyzed a new generation of hate groups looking to provoke tensions and precipitate violence online. The time has come to deploy civil rights laws to the digital economy…As hate and discrimination surge to threaten online communities, it is time to update our civil rights toolkit.

Federal judge: Orleans criminal court can’t jail anyone for failing to pay fines or fees without ‘neutral’ hearing

Aug 3, 2018 |

“This is a victory for the people of New Orleans and for those committed to fixing the breaks in the criminal justice system,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “America treats being poor as a crime, disproportionately victimizing people of color. This ruling ensures that people can no longer be thrown in jail in Orleans Parish for their poverty alone.”

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