Media & Resources

Today nearly 70 organizations representing civil rights, criminal justice, faith and drug policy communities sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi outlining concerns with a fentanyl-related bill that is expected to receive a vote on the House floor this week. The bill temporarily extends the Drug Enforcement Administration’s “class-wide” emergency scheduling of fentanyl-related substances. The Senate passed a similar bill on January 16th.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham kicked off 2020 right where he left off: by advancing to the Senate floor more extreme nominees who have egregious civil rights records for lifetime federal judgeships.

WASHINGTON — Leading national, state and local racial justice organizations today called for the Senate to reject the nomination of Andrew Brasher to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appellate court for Alabama, Georgia and Florida. The move comes as the Senate Judiciary Committee announces it will vote on the Brasher nomination this Thursday. Last week, a coalition of 29 advocacy organizations sent a joint letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, calling on them to halt the confirmation process for Donald Trump's federal judicial nominees now that the president has been impeached and faces a trial in the Senate.

WASHINGTON – Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, testified today on the multitude of risks that could keep people of color, immigrants, LGBTQ people, young children, and low-income households from being counted in the upcoming 2020 Census — leading to loss of public funds and political representation for already vulnerable communities for the next 10 years. The hearing, “Reaching Hard-to-Count Communities in the 2020 Census,” was held by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

WASHINGTON – Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s proposed rule on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing regulation:

WASHINGTON – A coalition of 29 advocacy organizations today sent a joint letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, calling on them to halt the confirmation process for Donald Trump's federal judicial nominees now that the president has been impeached and faces a trial in the Senate. Organizations signing the letter include People For the American Way, National Women's Law Center, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Alliance for Justice, NAACP, and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. The full letter can be seen here.

WASHINGTON – Ashley Allison, executive vice president of campaigns and programs at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on the recent attacks on faith communities:

President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will stop at nothing to achieve through the courts what their party cannot accomplish legislatively: erasing the progress our nation has made to recognize and protect hard-fought civil rights. Indeed, instead of passing crucial legislation that would restore and safeguard our voting rights, for example, McConnell is actively installing nominees with demonstrated records of creating and defending the most egregious efforts to block access to the ballot box. Senate Republicans have confirmed lifetime nominees who defended Ohio’s notorious voter purge law and argued for some of the nation’s most restrictive laws that would deny voting rights to millions of people.