Press Release

WASHINGTON – Citing concerns about the financial insecurity facing the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and 105 other civil rights groups called on Congress to support robust funding for the agency in the next coronavirus response package. The hundreds of thousands of people who make up the USPS are essential workers providing a critical public service to the nation amid a global pandemic, all while facing uncertainty about their own personal health and the fiscal health of the constitutionally-mandated agency.

WASHINGTON – Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on the Department of Education’s final rule on Title IX:

WASHINGTON – The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund announced the selection of LaShawn Warren as executive vice president of government affairs for the organizations. She is currently senior vice president of campaigns and programs at the organizations and assumes her new role on May 11.

WASHINGTON – As the U.S. Census Bureau shifts its plans for the 2020 Census to keep communities safe in the wake of coronavirus, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC are calling on Congress to fully explore and address how the Census Bureau’s request that lawmakers modify the statutory reporting deadlines for 2020 Census data would affect historically undercounted communities and states’ ability to comply with the Voting Rights Act.

On Wednesday, May 6 at 11 AM, Senators and advocates for health care, civil rights, and justice will hold a digital rally against the nomination of Justin Walker to the D.C. Circuit. The rally will immediately follow his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Walker praised Brett Kavanaugh for having written the “roadmap” to overturn the Affordable Care Act and scorned the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the law as “indefensible” and “catastrophic.” Walker also supports broad executive power, and would be poised to shield Donald Trump from the scrutiny of congressional oversight. Senate Republicans are nevertheless risking the safety of their colleagues, Senate staff, and the public to push through his nomination in the middle of a pandemic.

WASHINGTON – The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and All Voting is Local, with its joint campaign And Still I Vote, will hold multiple events this week to mobilize voters and urge officials across the country to ensure fair, safe, and accessible elections in 2020. These activities are part of the National Week of Action as well as Turn Up Tuesdays, a weekly national call to action to ensure people are informed and activated to vote November.

WASHINGTON — Forty pro-democracy and civil rights groups today joined in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, urging them to halt the process of federal judicial nominations and confirmations at this time.  The groups are members of the Fair Courts Task Force of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and wrote to urge "a cessation of the consideration of lifetime judicial nominees at a time when a continued focus on support and resources to address the COVID-19 pandemic should be paramount." 

WASHINGTON – The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, with its campaign And Still I Vote and in partnership with the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), will host a Turn Up Tuesdays Facebook Live Event on Tuesday, April 28, at 5:30 p.m. ET. The event will highlight barriers to the ballot Native Americans face and outline practical steps for how officials can protect their vote in the wake of COVID-19. As many states move toward voting by mail, the event will highlight how the failure to put systems in place could leave many tribal communities behind.