Civil Rights

WASHINGTON — According to the American Conservation Society, conservatives are using the First Amendment to challenge progressive legislation. They assert that the Free Speech Clause is being used by corporate and right-wing interests to undermine progressive efforts in areas such... Read More

WASHINGTON - Even as the White House was bedecked in gold and purple to commemorate the Centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, activists and scholars continued to contemplate the ongoing fight for women’s equality. On August 26, designated... Read More

One hundred years ago this month, women in the United States were guaranteed the right to vote with ratification of the 19th Amendment — secured by a 24-year-old Tennessee legislator's decisive vote, cast at the bidding of his mother. Harry... Read More

Harvard’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Research and PBS NewsHour co-hosted a discussion Wednesday afternoon about the coronavirus pandemic and the racial reckoning occurring in America and the impact these two simultaneous events will have on the upcoming... Read More

WASHINGTON - Recent police action against protesters fell under criticism during two congressional hearings Tuesday. Some accusations of wrongdoing were directed at U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who Democratic lawmakers accused of abusing his authority by authorizing excessive force against... Read More

Joe Biden on Tuesday unveiled plans for addressing systemic racism that has put Black people and other nonwhite communities at an economic disadvantage, promising “bold, practical investments” to rebuild as the country struggles with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic... Read More

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will allow certain young, undocumented immigrants to renew deportation protections for one year as his administration reviews a Supreme Court decision that blocked his efforts to end a program designed to let them remain in... Read More

WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday aggressively defended the federal response to violence and protests at the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, and his decision to intercede in criminal cases involving President Donald Trump’s close associates. The attorney... Read More

MINNEAPOLIS - A panel of community leaders will lead a discussion on systemic injustices in Minneapolis, Minn., on Wednesday as a part of the “Heal America Tour”, a series of events designed to spark productive dialogues on inequality in America.... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Democratic mayors of six U.S. cities have sent a letter to congressional leaders, asking Congress to take steps to bar the federal government from deploying federal agents to municipalities that don’t want them. The letter, sent Monday,... Read More

  WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. John Lewis is now the first African American to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, an honor bestowed upon the man who colleagues regard as “the conscience of the Congress.” House Speaker Nancy... Read More

WASHINGTON - Rep. John Lewis will lie in state at the Capitol next week, with the public viewing extended over two days and moved outdoors to allow for social distancing and public health precautions due to COVID-19. After an invitation-only... Read More

WASHINGTON - The NAACP is adding its voice to a broad legal challenge of a rule by the U.S. Department of Education that diverts COVID-19 relief aid away from public schools to benefit private education.  The powerful civil rights organization... Read More

ATLANTA (AP) — John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement whose bloody beating by Alabama state troopers in 1965 helped galvanize opposition to racial segregation, and who went on to a long and celebrated career in Congress, has... Read More

Challenges faced by residents of rural and underserved communities regarding barriers to health care were analyzed in a report released by the House Ways and Means Committee. The report, entitled “Left Out: Barriers to Health Equity for Rural and Underserved... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Trump administration regulation that lets employers with religious objections limit women’s access to free birth control under the Affordable Care Act. The 7-2 decision could have a profound, immediate effect on... Read More

WASHINGTON - House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters at his weekly pen and pad session that the House will vote later this month to remove the bust of Chief Justice Roger Taney from the U.S. Capitol. Taney wrote the... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a Louisiana law regulating abortion clinics, reasserting a commitment to abortion rights in the first big abortion case of the Trump era. Chief Justice John Roberts joined with the liberal wing... Read More

Climate change is increasing the likelihood of low birth weights, premature births, and stillbirths in minority communities, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study’s authors said while they found detrimental impacts... Read More

WASHINGTON - A policing reform bill proposed by the Senate's lone Black Republican failed to garner enough votes to pass on Wednesday after Senate Democrats said its proposed reforms didn't go far enough in the wake of the deaths of... Read More

WASHINGTON - New legislation would commemorate June 19 as a federal holiday 155 years after Major Gen. Gordon Granger issued the order signifying the end of slavery in the United States. In accordance with the Emancipation Proclamation, in 1865 Granger... Read More

WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Thursday ordered the removal of four portraits in the Capitol of previous House Speakers who served in the Confederacy. The move is the latest in her effort to expunge honorifics for Confederate... Read More

A self-described street pastor is suing Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser over her decision to commission a street mural that says “Black Lives Matter” in large letters on a street near the White House. The lawsuit filed by Rich Penkoski... Read More

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court heard a number of cases this term that could have major implications for reproductive rights. While each case heard by the Supreme Court is significant, the collective decisions on multiple health care-related cases could... Read More

African American civil rights leaders spoke out in support Wednesday of a bill pending in Congress that would set national standards for police behavior. It also would ban chokeholds, reduce legal immunity for police misconduct and create a national database... Read More

WASHINGTON - House and Senate Democrats proposed a sweeping overhaul of police oversight and procedures Monday, the first legislative response to mass protests that have gripped the nation in the wake of the death of an unarmed black man while... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Trump administration Thursday, alleging officials violated the civil rights of protesters who were forcefully removed from a park near the White House by police using chemical agents before President Donald... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate impasse over a widely backed bill to designate lynching as a federal hate crime boiled over on Thursday in an emotional debate cast against a backdrop of widespread protests over police treatment of African Americans.... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama is taking on an increasingly public role as the nation confronts a confluence of historic crises that has exposed deep racial and socioeconomic inequalities in America and reshaped the November election. In doing... Read More

WASHINGTON - Maryland's Democratic Sens. Benjamin Cardin and Chris Van Hollen on Wednesday introduced legislation in their chamber to replace the bust of Roger B. Taney, author of the Supreme Court's racist Dred Scott decision, currently on display in the... Read More