Joint Statement: Walpole and Civil Rights Advocates →

Joint Statement from The Town of Walpole and Civil Rights Advocates Stemming from an incident that occurred several months ago, the Town of Walpole and Civil Rights Advocates worked together and are pleased to announce that they have resolved the matter amicably. Town legal counsel, attorneys from Lawyers for Civil...

Congressional Briefing on Legacy Preferences →

DEI In Massachusetts Public Schools: A Legal And Practical Guide →

As the school year gets underway, Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) is receiving many inquiries about how best to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in public schools.  Those who support DEI — school administrators, school boards, teachers, community advocates, parents, and students — want a better understanding of the...

Dismantling Discriminatory Hairstyle Rules →

Targeting Young Black Athletes Violates Massachusetts’ New “Crown Act Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) issued a demand letter to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), an organization that creates and enforces high school athletic rules, requesting immediate action to stop discriminatory hairstyle policies that violate Massachusetts' new "Crown Act."...

LCR’s Legal Warriors at the HNBA National Conference →

Lawyers for Civil Rights at the 2023 Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) convention.  LCR’s legal warriors and our community partners will be presenting on a wide range of cutting-edge civil rights and intersectional issues at the upcoming HNBA Conference in Minneapolis on September 6-8, 2023. This is where you can find...

Federal Civil Rights Investigation: Harvard’s Legacy/Donor Admissions →

Lawyers for Civil Rights welcomes the news we received from the U.S. Department of Education that it has formally opened a federal investigation into our civil rights complaint, which challenges Harvard's discriminatory practice of giving preferential treatment to children of wealthy donors and children of alumni.  As our complaint outlines, these...

City of Boston Retreats from Diversity Efforts →

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, CITY OF BOSTON RETREATS FROM DIVERSITY EFFORTS Lawyers for Civil Rights learned that the City of Boston is conducting a “review” of the impact of the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision on “any City and BPS policy.” Taking place behind closed doors, this problematic “review” was not...

Federal Civil Rights Complaint Challenges Harvard’s Legacy Admissions →

Federal Civil Rights Complaint Challenges Harvard’s Practice Of Giving Preferential Treatment In Admissions To Children of Wealthy Donors and Alumni  Preferences Go Overwhelmingly To White Applicants And Systematically Disadvantage Applicants Of Color  The Chica Project, the African Community Economic Development of New England (ACEDONE), and the Greater Boston Latino Network (GBLN) filed a federal civil...

Window Still Exists for Schools to Consider Race →

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Calls to Overrule Affirmative Action Precedents Window Still Exists for Schools to Consider Race While raising the bar on universities’ ability to consider race in admissions, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected calls to overrule its affirmative action precedents. Most importantly, the Court left the door open...

Diversifying Vocational Schools in Massachusetts →

Students, Civil Rights Groups File Federal Discrimination Complaint Challenging Exclusionary Admissions in Vocational Education Schools State Currently Allows Vocational High Schools to Use Criteria That Disproportionately Exclude Students of Color, English Learners, And Students with Disabilities Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) and the Center for Law and Education (CLE) filed a...

LCR’s Civil Rights Summit →

LCR’s Civil Rights Summit November 4, 2022 Lawyers for Civil Rights held a Civil Rights Summit on November 4, 2022, convening powerful attorneys and community partners for strategic and catalytic thought partnership to advance civil rights in the current legal landscape, including changes in the composition of the Supreme Court....

Launching the Lauren Sampson Fellowship →

Lawyers for Civil Rights Launches Lauren Sampson Fellowship Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) is committed to honoring the memory and legacy of our colleague Lauren Sampson. We are proud to announce the creation of a legal fellowship dedicated to deepening and expanding Lauren’s impactful work from housing to climate justice and...

Defending Diversity in Higher Education in the Supreme Court →

Civil Rights Lawyers File Supreme Court Brief Supporting Affirmative Action on Behalf Of Harvard Students and Alumni  The brief, filed in support of the respondents in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, uplifts how Harvard's race-conscious admissions policy leads to a diverse campus that benefits all students. The Lawyers’ Committee...

Opposition to Receivership in Boston →

Opposition to Receivership of Boston Public Schools Stakeholder Collaboration, Not State Takeover, Is the Path Forward for Boston Public Schools Lawyers for Civil Rights issued a letter to Jeffrey C. Riley, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), voicing opposition to any effort by DESE to...

Federal Court Rejects Admissions Challenge to Boston’s Selective Public Schools →

Federal Court Rejects Admissions Challenge to Boston’s Highly Selective Public Schools On October 1, 2021, Judge Young of the District of Massachusetts reaffirmed that the City of Boston may consider racial, socioeconomic, and geographic diversity in crafting admissions policies for its highly selective public schools. In a thorough and thoughtful...

Closing the Digital Divide →

FRAGMENTED ACCESS: LOW INCOME, STUDENTS OF COLOR SHOULDER EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGES AS THE DIGITAL DIVIDE WIDENS Tech Inequity Has Exacerbated Pandemic-Driven Lost Learning For Low-Income, Black and Latinx Students In Massachusetts As the new school year begins, education advocates, youth-serving organizations, and civil rights lawyers sent an open letter to the...

Victory! Federal Appeals Court Rejects Attempt to Hold Up School Decisions →

VICTORY! FEDERAL APPEALS COURT REJECTS PLAINTIFF’S REQUEST TO HOLD UP SCHOOL DECISIONS  In a unanimous decision issued on April 28, 2021, the Chief Judge and two Circuit Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit rejected an eleventh-hour attempt by a group seeking to halt the...

Victory on Boston’s Selective Public Schools →

VICTORY! FEDERAL JUDGE UPHOLDS INTERIM PLAN FOR ADMISSION TO BOSTON’S HIGHLY SELECTIVE PUBLIC SCHOOLS In a decision issued on April 15, 2021, Judge William G. Young of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts soundly rejected efforts by a group seeking to overturn the Boston Public Schools’ Interim...