Press Release

WASHINGTON — The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, along with 91 national and local advocacy organizations, called on President Biden and congressional appropriators to double the funding for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). OCR cannot fulfill its responsibility to protect the civil rights of all students without adequate resources.

WASHINGTON — Lena Zwarensteyn, senior director of the fair courts program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, released the following statement after the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on several judicial nominees, including the nomination of Amir Ali to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia:

WASHINGTON – Following Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attempting to justify the illegal wiretaps of Martin Luther King Jr., and with a movement to release the tapes, Maya Wiley, President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and Derrick Johnson, CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People wrote an op-ed in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution saying that the illegally obtained surveillance must not be released.

WASHINGTON – Jesselyn McCurdy, executive vice president for government affairs at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, released the following statement on the passage of H.R. 7024 in the House:

WASHINGTON – Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, released the following statement on the attack on protestors at Columbia University:

WASHINGTON — Lena Zwarensteyn, senior director of the fair courts program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, released the following statement after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance 20 judicial nominees to the Senate floor:

WASHINGTON — The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, joined by 108 national organizations, wrote to senators today underscoring the urgency of building a federal judiciary that lives up to its promise of equal justice for all by filling all judicial vacancies in 2024 with diverse nominees who are committed to civil and human rights. The letter comes on the eve of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s consideration of 20 judicial nominees.

WASHINGTON — To advance equity and civil rights, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, along with 43 civil rights and education organizations, today released Civil Rights Principles for Multilingual Learner Education. The principles outline how decision-makers at all levels can ensure an equitable education system that offers meaningful equal opportunity and success for all children, including children whose first language is a language other than English. The groups urge policymakers and educators to immediately adopt principles that create learning environments where multilingual student learners can thrive and grow alongside their peers.