White Supremacist and Insurrectionist Officers →

"Boston must become a testing ground for the ideals of freedom."— Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Today, on MLK Day 2021, we call on law enforcement agencies to root out officers with white supremacist and insurrectionist tendencies. For our safety -- and the safety of our children, families and communities...

Urging the Justice Department to Convene Prosecutors →

Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) urges Attorney General-Designate Merrick Garland, Associate Attorney General-Designate Vanita Gupta, and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights-Designate Kristen Clarke to set a deliberate and intentional racial equity and racial justice agenda at the Justice Department.  The Justice Department must take immediate action to address the police misconduct...

Civil Rights Implications of U.S. Attorney Search →

Lawyers for Civil Rights urges the Search Committee leading the process of identifying viable candidates to lead the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts to take into consideration racial justice, immigrants' rights, and civil rights issues. In an open letter sent to Judge Nancy Gertner, who is leading this important...

Response to the White Supremacist Coup →

Statement in Response to the White Supremacist Coup Lawyers for Civil Rights Calls for Independent Investigation and Charges Against Lynch Mob January 7, 2020 At Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR), we want everyone to sit with the discomfort of the deadly white supremacist insurrection at the Capitol. We cannot let...

Expanding Our Police Accountability Work →

Lawyers for Civil Rights Deepens and Expands Police Accountability Work Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) was founded to marshal the legal resources of the private bar to address ongoing civil rights challenges. More than five decades later, there is still a critical need for legal advocacy coupled with community-based activism to address...

Urging Passage of Police Reform Bill (S.2963) →

Amplify Latinx and Lawyers for Civil Rights are urging Governor Charlie Baker to restore key provisions to the Police Reform Bill (S.2963). Specifically, we are focusing on: Restoring key standards and definitions for use of force to S.2963; and Returning use of force regulatory powers to the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST)...

Massachusetts Must Address The Housing Crisis →

Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) sent a open letter to the Governor and Commonwealth of Massachusetts demanding immediate state action to fix problems that are plaguing the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program, which provides emergency housing assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The systemic failures of the RAFT program are...

2020 Annual Report →

We are excited to share our 2020 annual report. The report is available here. Please click here to download the report.

Democratizing Redistricting in 2021 →

While our work to safeguard the vote during the 2020 election cycle has concluded, democracy doesn’t stop here.  Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) is launching Democratizing Redistricting in 2021 to ensure that the forthcoming redistricting process is fair, equitable, transparent, and community driven. This work will be coordinated with community and coalition...

The Repair Work Begins Now →

STATEMENT FROM NOVEMBER 7, 2020 Lawyers for Civil Rights has played a critical role over the last four years securing major legal relief, including nation-wide injunctions, against executive actions that would harm people of color and immigrants.  We've also stopped the dismantlement of long-standing federal programs designed to protect people of color and...

Shenanigans on Election Day? →

Lawyers for Civil Rights and our community allies run non-partisan Election Protection in Massachusetts. Election Protection is a long-standing voter protection effort that aims to ensure that every eligible voter is able to cast a meaningful ballot on Election Day. We’re supporting voters to make sure the election runs smoothly and fairly. Please report problems to help us maintain the...

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...