Condemning Gun Violence →

Condemning Gun Violence Across the Commonwealth  Gun violence is a plague on the United States, and Massachusetts is far from immune. Shootings on back-to-back days this weekend disrupted Caribbean Festivals in Boston and Worcester, leaving at least ten people injured and local communities of color shaken. Meanwhile, following 21 shooting incidents in the last two months, Springfield...

Launching Medical-Legal Partnership with Beth Israel Lahey Health →

MEDICAL-LEGAL PARTNERSHIP LAUNCHED BY BETH ISRAEL LAHEY HEALTH AND LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS  New Medical-Legal Partnership Will Help Address Health Disparities Beth Israel Lahey Health (BILH) and Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) announced the launch of a new medical-legal partnership that will provide free legal support to low-income patients, beginning...

New Police Discipline Database: More Transparency and Accountability →

Lawyers for Civil Rights Applauds New Police Discipline Database, Urges More Transparency and Accountability Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) applauds the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission for publishing a database showing the disciplinary records of Massachusetts police officers accused of misconduct.  Transparency is critical for holding law enforcement accountable. ...

Haitian Community Group Defends Humanitarian Relief →

Haitian Community Group Defends President Biden’s Humanitarian Immigration Policy Parole Program Offers Hope for Foreign Nationals Fleeing Deadly Conditions Haitian-Americans United, Inc. (HAU) filed a friend-of-the-court (amicus) brief in federal court in support of the Biden Administration’s “parole program,” a humanitarian relief effort that allows Haitians fleeing dangerous social, political, and economic...

MBTA Zoning Lawsuit Addressing Housing Crisis →

Lawyers for Civil Rights and Brown Rudnick File MBTA Communities Zoning Lawsuit to Challenge Suburban Reluctance to Address Housing Crisis As Affordable Housing Crisis Devastates Low-Income Families and Community Groups, Plaintiffs Ask Supreme Judicial Court To Make Clear That New MBTA Communities Zoning Law Is Mandatory The Central Massachusetts Housing...

Defending Minority-Owned Businesses In Federal Court →

The Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA) and Amplify LatinX have filed a motion to intervene in federal court in defense of a pandemic relief program  administered by the Commonwealth to support small businesses, including minority-owned  business enterprises (MBEs). The federal case was brought by two white-owned businesses  attacking the...

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...

Guide for Small Businesses: Navigating 303 Creative →

Lawyers for Civil Rights is releasing a guide for small businesses and consumers to help demystify the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the 303 Creative case.

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...

2023 Brown Rudnick Summer Fellow →

Brian Cummings Joins Lawyers for Civil Rights as the 2023 Brown Rudnick Summer Fellow Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) is pleased to welcome Brian Cummings as the 2023 Brown Rudnick Summer Fellow.  Launched in 2022, the Fellowship provides a $10,000 stipend to law students who want to gain civil rights experience through a...

Health Equity and Immigrant Health →

Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) and our pro bono allies recently submitted a comment letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in support of expanding access to affordable health care for recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA),...

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...

55th Anniversary Celebration →

Click here to download the event book.

Lawsuit to Enforce Civil Rights Laws in Boston →

Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Biden Administration For Failure To Enforce Civil Rights Laws Protecting Minority-Owned Businesses  Department of Justice Refuses to Investigate Boston’s Exclusionary Public Contracting System The Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA), the Greater Boston Latino Network (GBLN), and Amplify Latinx, represented by Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR),...

No Room for Bigotry in the Legal System →

SJC Affirms That There is No Room for Bigotry in the Legal System Attorneys Cannot Be Zealous Advocates When They Harbor Racist and Islamophobic Beliefs About Their Client In a groundbreaking opinion examining the role of bias in the judicial system, Massachusetts’ highest court has concluded that a Black Muslim...

Voting Rights Act Victory at the U.S. Supreme Court →

In a major decision, the U.S. Supreme Court re-affirmed a critical tool for protecting minority voting rights: Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act (“VRA”).  In doing so, the Court reinforced the message community groups represented by Lawyers for Civil Rights (“LCR”) have emphasized all along Boston’s redistricting litigation:  ensuring equal voting...

Sacramento Migrant Crisis →

Statement by Lawyers for Martha’s Vineyard Migrants on Continuing Investigation Into Recent Sacramento Flights Shortly after media reports emerged that two charter planes carrying over 30 migrants, mostly from Venezuela and Colombia, were flown from New Mexico to Sacramento, California, as part of a political stunt engineered by Governor Ron DeSantis, Lawyers...

Older posts