Victory! Language Access Compliance Agreement in Boston →

Lawyers for Civil Rights helped to secure a landmark compliance agreement between the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on language access.  This historic agreement is in direct response to the complaint filed by Lawyers for Civil Rights on behalf...

Digital Racial Gap in Boston Public Schools →

Digital Divide in Boston Public Schools Exacerbates Disparities Along Racial Lines and Disabilities Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell and Lawyers for Civil Rights Urge Immediate Action to Close the Digital Gap As Boston Public Schools (BPS) gets ready for its remote reopening next week with plans to phase in a hybrid...

Boston Must Provide More Drop-Boxes for the Election →

Communities of Color Are Particularly At Risk of Disenfranchisement  In an open letter issued to Mayor Marty Walsh and Boston's Election Department,  Lawyers for Civil Rights is urging the City of Boston to provide additional secure municipal drop-boxes in advance of the November election. Our experience with the September primary—during which Boston...

State Improperly Inflates Minority Small Business Engagement →

New Data Reveals the Baker Administration Has Inflated the Amount of State Money Going to Minority-Owned Small Businesses in Massachusetts  Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) strongly condemns the Baker Administration’s misrepresentation of state contracting with minority-owned small businesses in Massachusetts. In recent reporting, WGBH found that “the state has inflated...

Statement on Boston’s Exam School Admission Errors →

Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) has learned that, due to database errors beginning in December 2018, a number of students entitled to admission at one of Boston's three exam schools either did not receive invitations at all or were not invited to their top choice of school for both the...

Statement on Bail Assistance →

Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) unequivocally condemns all forms of violence in the strongest terms. We are committed to seeking justice and healing for victims and survivors of crimes.  LCR continues to call for reforms to our bail and criminal system that ensure equal justice for all, not just those who...

Undocumented Immigrants to Trump: We Are People and We Count →

CIVIL RIGHTS AND IMMIGRANT JUSTICE GROUPS ANNOUNCE FEDERAL COURT CHALLENGE TO TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S EXCLUSION OF UNDOCUMENTED INDIVIDUALS FROM CENSUS COUNT Undocumented Immigrants to Trump: We Are People and We Count In response to the Trump Administration’s racist memorandum excluding undocumented immigrants from the Census 2020 count, Lawyers for Civil Rights has filed...

Needham Police Accused of Illegally Handcuffing and Profiling Black Father →

Needham Police Department Accused of Illegally Handcuffing and Profiling Black Father  A can of tea and some cough drops. That’s all Marvin Henry was buying when he was—wrongfully—suspected of shoplifting from CVS when he was stopped by multiple Needham police officers, including the Chief of Police, in January 2020 as...

Victory! Massachusetts Starts Sending Mail-In Ballot Applications →

Following an emergency petition filed in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) by seven Black, Latinx, and Asian-American voters, Common Cause Massachusetts, and MassVOTE, the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Galvin has started sending mail-in ballot applications to voters. The case, Bertin v. Galvin, was filed by Lawyers...

Brewers Trillium & White Lion Support Racial Justice →

RACIAL JUSTICE AND CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS APPLAUD MASS-BASED BREWERS WHITE LION AND TRILLIUM ON BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL INITIATIVE The Healing Racism Institute of Pioneer Valley (HRIPV) and Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) jointly applaud Massachusetts-based brewers White Lion and Trillium for their leadership and partnership on Black is Beautiful, the...

150 Attorneys Support Over 250 Small Businesses →

Today, Lawyers for Civil Rights and over a dozen Boston law firms and corporate sponsors will host the BizGrow Conference, a free event providing hundreds of minority-owned, woman-owned, and immigrant-owned small businesses with free legal consultations and technical support. BizGrow will be held virtually from 9:30 AM to 5 PM....

Worcester Police Fail to Protect Black Mother and Her Kids →

"Black cunts!" That's what Ms. Lewis and her 13 year-old daughter were called along with other horrifying expletives. That's what the white gas attendant at Pat's Towing in Worcester yelled as he violently attacked Ms. Lewis' car terrifying Ms. Lewis and her three kids trapped inside. The white gas attendant violently approached Ms. Lewis'...

Diversifying Public Contracts →

New Data Reveals Progress And Continued Need for Action in Diversifying Public Contracts in Boston Statement in Response to Latest Figures Regarding Minority- and Women-Business Enterprise Participation in Boston Contracting The City of Boston presented data on the public contracts awarded during the first three quarters of fiscal year 2020....

City Must Act Swiftly to Remedy Injustice to Boston’s George Floyd →

Civil Rights Attorneys Representing Mother Of Terrence Coleman Call On City Leaders To Act Swiftly To Remedy Injustice To “Boston’s George Floyd” In the wake of the George Floyd murder, cities across the country are re-examining their own police killings of Black men and women. Here in Boston, Terrence Coleman, a...

Defund School Police →

Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) commends the Minneapolis public school board for its unanimous vote last week to end financial ties with the Minneapolis Police Department after yet another unarmed Black man, George Floyd, was murdered by police. With support of students and the Minneapolis teachers union, the school board said that the...

Responding to the Policing Crisis →

Lawyers for Civil Rights has been actively responding to the racial justice and policing crisis pre-COVID and mid-COVID. Here's a snapshot of our life-changing work: We currently represent Hope Coleman, the mother of Terrence Coleman, a young Black man with mental health issues who was killed by Boston police. Hope...

We are all Minneapolis →

Scenes reminiscent of the civil rights era are unfolding across the country. Black lives are at stake. Peaceful protesters, bystanders, and reporters have been injured and arrested.  Cities are on fire. Lawyers for Civil Rights was founded at the height of the civil rights movement to move racial justice struggles...

Coronavirus Pandemic Response →

Intake The demand for our free legal services has increased exponentially since the start of the public health and economic crisis.  Since March, we have received over 350 requests for legal assistance (intakes). The estimated demographic breakdown is as follows: 55% Black; 25% Latinx; 10% Asian American; and 10% other....