Suffolk Downs Can’t Become Another Seaport →

Community Groups to the City of Boston: Suffolk Downs Can't Become Another Seaport Cities that are diverse and inclusive thrive. That is why development must be carefully planned, to avoid displacing long-time residents and businesses, communities of color, and low-wage workers. Housing in particular must be affordable to a broad...

Public Charge Rule Blocked →

In two landmark decisions issued on October 11, 2019, federal courts in Washington and New York have blocked the Trump Administration’s unprecedented attempt to impose a wealth requirement on immigration. The so-called "public charge” rule will not go into effect on October 15 thus leaving the status quo in place....

Civil Rights Groups Assert Black & Latinx Lives Matter →

IN FIRST CIRCUIT, CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS FILE BRIEF ASSERTING THAT BLACK AND LATINX LIVES MATTER BRIEF HIGHLIGHTS THE PRACTICAL AND LEGAL CHALLENGES THAT PEOPLE OF COLOR FACE IN POLICE INTERACTIONS Today, Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Center for Constitutional Rights and LatinoJustice PRLDEF in the U.S. Court...

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 Boston, MA – 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...

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...

Class Action Challenges Background Checks →

Class Action Lawsuit Challenges Massachusetts’ Use of Decades Old Juvenile Court Records To Permanently Bar Employees From Childcare Work Lawsuit Alleges Blanket Ban Disproportionately Affects Employees of Color  Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) and Lichten & Liss-Riordan P.C. filed a class action lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court against the Massachusetts Department of Early...

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...

Condemning Failure to Prosecute Hate Crime →

Condemning Failure to Prosecute Hate Crime in New Hampshire Lawyers for Civil Rights strongly condemns the failure of the New Hampshire Attorney General to classify the near-lynching of a bi-racial 8 year old boy in 2017 as a hate incident.  This abdication of responsibility means that the Attorney General will...

The Migrant Crisis: Yes, You Can Help →

Editorial in the Boston Globe: "Through aggressive legal action, Lawyers for Civil Rights has repeatedly challenged the anti-immigrant policies of the Trump administration. For instance, the Boston-based organization has sued the federal government to get compensation for local families affected by the federal government’s child-separation policy last year. The nonprofit...

50 Years After Stonewall →

50 Years After Stonewall, We Are Still Fighting for Inclusion by Kiki Tapiero and Iván Espinoza-Madrigal This month, many public spaces and storefronts are adorned with Pride banners and rainbow flags. It is tempting to believe that there is widespread support for the LGBTQ+ community and that queer people are...

Census Citizenship Question Gets Blocked →

For Now, Census Citizenship Question Gets Blocked Handing civil rights and immigrants’ rights groups a victory, the U.S. Supreme Court this morning ruled that the Trump Administration’s rationale for including a citizenship question on the 2020 Census “seems to have been contrived,” and sent the matter back to the Commerce...

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...

Settlement of Federal Voting Rights Act Case Against Lowell, Mass. →

Asian-American and Latino Voters Announce Settlement of Voting Rights Case The diverse coalition of Latino and Asian-American voters that filed a groundbreaking federal voting rights suit against the City of Lowell alleging that the municipal election system illegally dilutes the vote of communities of color announced today that the parties...

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...

Federal Lawsuit to Block Immigration Arrests in Courthouses →

Prosecutors, Public Defenders, and Community Groups File Federal Lawsuit to Block Immigration Arrests in Courthouses Today, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan, Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins, and the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), and the Chelsea Collaborative filed a groundbreaking lawsuit demanding an end to federal immigration...

Keep The Citizenship Question Off The Census →

Today, Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) and Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. (Mintz) filed a friend-of-the-court (amicus curiae) brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of national organizations and Boston-based groups in New York v. U.S. Department of Commerce, the case that will determine whether a citizenship question may...

Victory for Liberians. Trump Backs Down! →

We just secured a major victory for our Liberian clients. Following our groundbreaking lawsuit, the Trump Administration is reversing course and extending humanitarian relief and protection for thousands of Liberian immigrants who faced imminent detention and deportation on March 31. This high-stakes case has garnered the support of ten Attorneys General from...

10 Attorneys General File Brief Supporting Our Liberian Clients →

In African Communities Together v. Trump, our latest lawsuit against the Trump Administration on behalf of the Liberian immigrant community, ten attorneys general from across the country, including Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and California, have filed a friend-of-the-court (amicus) brief in support of our clients focusing on the irreparable harm...