Support for Black Lives Matter at School Week →

Earlier this week, Michael Leary, President of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association (BPPA), opposed the Boston Teachers Union’s (BTU) support of Black Lives Matter At School Week—an annual week of action organized by a national coalition working for racial justice in education. Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) condemns the BPPA’s...

Smoking Gun Reveals Extent of Boston’s Intentional Exclusion of Students of Color from Exam Schools →

Test Maker Slams Boston for “Misapplication” of Exam and “Refusal” to Make Needed Reforms In a bombshell announcement, the makers of the test used by Boston Public Schools (BPS) in its exam school admissions process disclosed that it repeatedly warned BPS that it was misusing the test in a manner that...

Entanglement Between Boston Public Schools and ICE →

BPS Must Shut Down School-to-Deportation Pipeline Immediately Documents secured in a lawsuit brought by civil rights and education advocates show far more extensive interactions between Boston Public Schools (BPS) and federal immigration enforcement than the City has previously admitted. Since 2014, at least 135 student incident reports generated by BPS...

2019 Annual Report →

Check out our latest work. Our 2019 year-in-review is available here: [pdf-embedder url="http://lawyersforcivilrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/2019-Annual-Report-DIGITAL.pdf" title="2019 Annual Report DIGITAL"]

Victory! Federal Court Upholds Harvard’s Admissions Policy →

Victory! Federal Court Upholds Harvard's Admissions Policy LCR Represents Diverse Group Of Students And Alumni Who Testified At Trial In Support Of Race-Conscious Admissions Federal Judge Allison D. Burroughs issued a landmark ruling today in favor of Harvard University in Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard. Today’s decision strongly reaffirms...

Ropes & Gray Justice Fellowship →

Ropes & Gray Launches Justice Fellowship at Lawyers for Civil Rights Legal Fellowship Builds On Successful Pro Bono Partnership in Landmark Voting Rights Case Global law firm Ropes & Gray today announced the creation of the Ropes & Gray Justice Fellowship at Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR), a Boston-based legal...

Commemorating School Integration In Boston →

  This Fall, Boston's public schools will welcome its 45th integrated class. Students from diverse backgrounds will be learning and growing with and from each other. This accomplishment would have been unimaginable decades ago, and is worthy of celebration. Our schools were integrated by Morgan v. Hennigan, a landmark case...

School Funding Lawsuit Against State Officials →

If you are the parent of a child enrolled in a public school in Fall River, Chelsea, Chicopee, Springfield, Lowell, Haverhill, or Orange, please contact Lauren Sampson at lsampson@lawyersforcivilrights.org to find out how you can help secure additional resources for your child's future.  More than a dozen parents from across...

Weaponizing The Census Would Hurt Massachusetts →

Weaponizing The Census Would Hurt Massachusetts This op-ed by was published by WBUR's Cognoscenti. It’s tempting, in the wake of the Mueller report and the onslaught of news stories about rogue aides and Russian corruption, to focus on scandalous elements of the Trump administration. But none of these scandals have...

Solutions & Strategies to Diversify Boston’s Exam Schools →

Community Forum: Solutions and Strategies to Diversify Boston's Exam Schools WHAT: Community Forum on Diversifying Boston's Exam Schools WHO: Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR); the NAACP Boston Branch; and more than a dozen community groups. Speakers will include: Boston City Councilor Kim Janey Iván Espinoza-Madrigal of Lawyers for Civil Rights...

Community Forum on Exam Schools on Feb. 28 in Roxbury →

Condemning Trump Administration’s Assault On Anti-Discrimination Protections →

Lawyers for Civil Rights Condemns Trump Administration’s Assault On Anti-Discrimination Protections  As part of its ongoing rollback of civil rights protections, the Trump Administration is directing Justice Department officials to look for ways to eliminate one of the most potent tools of civil rights advocacy: the disparate impact doctrine. Lawyers for Civil...

Response to Anticipated Rollback of Federal Discipline Policies →

Lawyers for Civil Rights Responds to Trump Administration’s Anticipated Rollback of Discipline Policies The U.S. Department of Education is expected to rescind policies created to ensure that schoolchildren of color do not receive disproportionate discipline. Following the February 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the...

2018 Year-in-Review →

Check out our latest work. Our 2018 year-in-review is available here: http://lawyersforcivilrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2018-Year-in-Review.pdf [pdf-embedder url="http://lawyersforcivilrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2018-Year-in-Review.pdf" title="2018 Year in Review"] Our 2018 year-in-review is available here: http://lawyersforcivilrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2018-Year-in-Review.pdf

Congressional Resolution Honors Our Achievements →

Mass. Lawmakers Introduce Resolution Honoring Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice Bicameral Resolution Marks 50th Anniversary of the Lawyers’ Committee’s Boston Affiliate Text of Resolution (PDF) Washington, DC – United States Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Stephen F. Lynch, along with their colleagues from the Massachusetts congressional delegation,...

Report on Discipline →

NEW REPORT EXAMINES SCHOOL DISCIPLINE IN MASSACHUSETTS Discipline Rates Drop, But Disconcerting Disparities Remain September 27, 2018 Boston, MA – A comprehensive report issued today by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice examines the state of school discipline in Massachusetts.  The report, Unfinished Business, shows that while measurable progress...

Symposium on the Future of Civil Rights (September 20, 2018) →

Please join us on September 20th for a groundbreaking civil rights conference at Suffolk Law School. Free registration starts at noon. Lunch will be served. Event will conclude with beer/wine reception. This event is open and free to the public. The program is available here. [pdf-embedder url="http://lawyersforcivilrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/SaveTheDate-Symposium.pdf"]  

Response to Boston Schools Superintendent Resignation →

Response to Boston Schools Superintendent Resignation Last week, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice and our allies filed a groundbreaking suit against the City of Boston, Boston Public Schools and its Superintendent, and the Boston Police Department to obtain public records regarding information sharing with federal immigration...