The Public Policy Project continues its work to diversify the legal profession at every level – our advocacy and programming spans state judiciaries across the country to executive nominations.
The Judicial Diversity Program seeks to improve the judicial system through increased representation from people of diverse backgrounds working on the judicial bench. Currently, the program runs out of North Carolina, Florida, and Washington state and works to recruit and support diversity candidates to the bench and educate the larger community on the importance to implement and support judicial diversity.
The Judicial Selection Best Practices Initiative is a nationwide initiative to collect data on explicit discrimination and implicit bias endured by African Americans as they pursue judgeships. This research will help inform model legislation recommendations and developing best practices to enhance diversity on the bench.
Know Your Rights Initiative The Know Your Rights (KYR) initiative is a formalized partnership with the National Bar Association. KYR seeks to mobilize members of the private bar to serve as legal observers and provide individual-level representation for protesters who are detained or arrested during mass demonstrations against police misconduct. KYR brochures have been created for Atlanta, Baton Rouge, and Washington, D.C. We believe that citizens should be free to exercise their first amendment rights and provided with the support needed to engage in protests and demonstrations. Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network The Lawyers’ Committee and its coalition partners in the Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network have been tracking the foreclosure rescue fraud epidemic since early 2010. As of early 2014, the national Loan Modification Scam Database, managed by the Lawyers’ Committee, has compiled more than 40,000 complaints representing reported homeowner losses totaling over $90 million. Parental Readiness and Empowerment Program The Parental Readiness and Empowerment Program (PREP) seeks to improve K-12 student performance, retention, and access to equal educational opportunities. We serve low-income and minority children in targeted communities by increasing parental engagement in education and ensuring that parents become successful advocates for their children. Our goal is for every child to have meaningful access to a quality education.