Civil Rights

Republican attorneys general mount a new attack on the EPA’s use of civil rights law

Twenty-three states want the Biden administration's EPA to curtail its approach to environmental justice.

5 agencies join Justice in pledge to protect civil rights against AI-fueled discrimination

The agencies pledged to use their existing enforcement authorities to tackle cases where artificial intelligence may impact Americans’ civil rights.

Civil Rights commission digs into government use of facial recognition

The tech poses “serious threats to our fundamental rights,” the chair of the commission said during a Friday briefing.

The DOJ works with law enforcement to improve how deputies communicate with people who don’t speak English

A ProPublica investigation revealed how a grammatical mistake in Spanish led sheriff’s deputies in Wisconsin to wrongly blame a Nicaraguan dairy worker for his son’s death.

Senators demand that the Justice Department halt funding to predictive policing programs

Investigations have shown how a predictive policing algorithm was both discriminatory and inaccurate.

Students and advocates ‘frustrated’ with the Biden administration’s slow response to finalize Title IX changes

House Democrats have urged the Education Department to act on policy protections for LGBTQ+ students and student sexual assault survivors.

White House tasks several agencies with responding to incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia

The departments of Homeland Security, Justice and Education will all have roles to address what the White House sees as rising discrimination on college campuses.

Federal agency accused of tolerating employees who distributed Nazi propaganda and harassed colleagues

One worker greeted coworkers with a Nazi salute and praised Hitler, a lawsuit alleges, while supervisors declined to take action.

OIG: Interior Department backdated discrimination determinations and applied incorrect standards

Officials at the department’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights backdated discrimination decisions for up to 15 days prior to their issuance and erroneously ruled in five cases, according to a new report.

New bill would beef up accessibility reporting requirements for agencies

Agency and department heads would be required to appoint “Section 508 compliance officers” to ensure they meet accessibility mandates.

Supreme Court rejects USPS bid to require employees to work on Sundays

The Postal Service may still prevail in lower court, but the high court has created a new precedent USPS must now follow in providing religious accommodations.

Why the White House’s Environmental Justice Tool Is Still Disappointing Advocates

New changes “ended up making the program less focused on people of color than it originally was,” one advocate said.

Congressional Black Caucus Meets with Biden to Push for Police Accountability

Last year, at least 1,192 people were killed by law enforcement officers in the U.S., and 26% were Black people despite making up more than 13% of U.S. population

America’s Biggest Museums Fail to Return Native American Human Remains

The remains of more than 100,000 Native Americans are held by prestigious U.S. institutions, despite a 1990 law meant to return them to tribal nations. Here’s how the ancestors were stolen — and how tribes are working to get them back.

Fred Gray, the ‘Chief Counsel for the Protest Movement,’ to Get Medal of Freedom for His Civil Rights Work

When Rosa Parks was arrested for sitting in the front of a bus in Montgomery, Fred Gray was her lawyer. Now he’s being honored for a lifetime of civil rights advocacy.

Grain Elevator Project Could Destroy African American Historical Sites, Preservation Agency Says

Following ProPublica's reporting, a federal agency says that a proposed grain elevator in Louisiana could harm a historic plantation and asks why a report was changed to minimize discussion of possible damage.