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Municipal Elections in Ft. Myers and Cape Coral Postponed by Gov. Rick Scott to October 3, 2017 Due Impact of Hurricane Irma on Lee County Voters

Governor Rick Scott issued an Executive Order on September 15, 2017, postponing municipal elections in Ft. Myers and Cape Coral to October 3, 2017, following an appeal by Common Cause Florida, State Voices Florida, the League of Women Voters Florida and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to delay these elections because of the devastating impact of Hurricane Irma on Lee County voters.

Updates from the Lawyers’ Committee

Blog September 1, 2017

A Message from the President & Executive Director on Hurricane Harvey Fair Housing Resources

The thoughts of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Board and staff are with the people of Texas and Louisiana affected by the devastating impact of Hurricane Harvey. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the people of the region and wish everyone the best at this difficult time.  We know very well how hard everyone in the region is working as the focus and efforts shift toward recovery. As the people of the region look to rebuild, the Lawyers’ Committee wants to ensure that low-income and minority communities receive equal treatment and opportunity to reclaim and revitalize their communities.  Natural disasters affect Americans from coast to coast, but have an especially harmful and disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations, particularly in communities of color. This has been abundantly clear in the experience of communities affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Ike and Sandy in the last twelve years.  For example, […]

Press Release September 19, 2017

Lawyers’ Committee For Civil Rights Under Law Files Amicus Brief In SCOTUS Case Regarding Trump’s Discriminatory Travel Ban Executive Order

Press Release September 19, 2017

Municipal Elections in Ft. Myers and Cape Coral Postponed by Gov. Rick Scott to October 3, 2017 Due Impact of Hurricane Irma on Lee County Voters

Publication September 19, 2017

The High School Vote: How Texas fails to engage the next generation of voters

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Newsclips

Justice Department reverses position to support Ohio purging inactive voters in high-profile case

August 8, 2017

The Washington Post

“Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, called the Ohio purges “a critical voting rights case” and said the department’s reversal is “the latest example of an agency whose leadership has lost its moral compass.” “The law hasn’t changed since the department accurately told the court that Ohio’s voter purge was unlawful,” Clarke said in a statement. “The facts haven’t changed. Only the leadership of the department has changed. The Justice Department’s latest action opens the door for wide-scale unlawful purging of the voter registration rolls across our country.”

Affirmative action: Do white American students really get a bad deal?

August 3, 2017

BBC

Ms Shum: I think it’s a myth that race-based admissions benefit only students of colour. One of the other things I’ve encountered professionally is this perpetuation of another myth, which is that qualified, white applicants are being displaced from college programmes by under-qualified and under-prepared minority students. I think that this is a really divisive way of looking at these issues and really undermines a university’s commitment to ensuring that our college campuses reflect the world that our students are living in. Quite frankly, I think it’s offensive to students of colour to imply that the only reason they were extended an offer of admission is because of affirmative action.

WITH THE WHITE HOUSE UNDER SIEGE, TRUMP STARTS A CULTURE WAR

August 2, 2017

Vanity Fair

Kristen Clarke, president of the liberal Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, challenged Clegg’s stance, noting that the civil-rights division was created specifically to deal with the discrimination faced by America’s most oppressed minority groups, which are, despite Clegg’s insinuation, not whites.

Justice Dept. to Take On Affirmative Action in College Admissions

August 1, 2017

The New York Times

Kristen Clarke, the president of the liberal Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, criticized the affirmative action project as “misaligned with the division’s longstanding priorities.” She noted that the civil rights division was “created and launched to deal with the unique problem of discrimination faced by our nation’s most oppressed minority groups,” performing work that often no one else has the resources or expertise to do. “This is deeply disturbing,” she said. “It would be a dog whistle that could invite a lot of chaos and unnecessarily create hysteria among colleges and universities who may fear that the government may come down on them for their efforts to maintain diversity on their campuses.” The Justice Department declined to provide more details about its plans or to make the acting head of the civil rights division, John Gore, available for an interview.

The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is to secure equal justice for all through the rule of law, targeting in particular the inequities confronting African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities. The Lawyers’ Committee is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to enlist the private bar's leadership and resources in combating racial discrimination and the resulting inequality of opportunity - work that continues to be vital today.

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