The Supreme Court took the extraordinary step of expanding the legal questions in Louisiana v. Callais (Nos. 24-109, 24-110), ordering supplemental briefs on whether creating majority-minority districts to remedy Voting Rights Act violations violates the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments. The …
Supreme CourtDepartment of JusticeLouisianaNAACP Legal Defense FundBrennan Center for Justice+2 morevoting-rights-actsupreme-courtracial-justicelouisianaredistricting+4 more
Supreme Court ruled 6-3 (Harvard) and 6-2 (UNC) that race-conscious admissions policies at Harvard and University of North Carolina violate the Equal Protection Clause, effectively ending affirmative action in higher education nationwide. Chief Justice Roberts authored the majority opinion, joined …
Supreme CourtChief Justice John RobertsJustice Clarence ThomasJustice Samuel AlitoJustice Neil Gorsuch+11 moresupreme-courtjudicial-capturecivil-rightseducationracial-justice+1 more
On Wednesday, June 10, 2020, Amazon announced a one-year moratorium on police use of its Rekognition facial recognition software, shocking civil rights activists and researchers who had spent two years fighting to stop the company from selling surveillance technology to law enforcement. The …
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Facebook employees stage an unprecedented virtual walkout protesting Mark Zuckerberg’s refusal to take action against Trump’s post threatening violence against protesters, stating “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” The employee revolt exposes Facebook’s …
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First Lady Hillary Clinton delivers a speech at Keene State College in New Hampshire supporting the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, in which she uses the now-infamous “super-predators” terminology. In her remarks, Clinton stated: “They are not just gangs of kids …
President Bill Clinton signs the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, the largest crime bill in U.S. history, consisting of 356 pages that provided for 100,000 new police officers and $9.7 billion in funding for prisons. Drafted by then-Senator Joe Biden and sponsored by …
Bill ClintonJoe BidenJack Brooksmass-incarcerationcriminal-justiceprison-industrial-complexracial-justicelegislation
Congress passes the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, establishing a 100-to-1 sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenses—imposing the same penalties for possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine as for 500 grams of powder cocaine. The legislation provided mandatory minimum …
Ronald ReaganCongressmass-incarcerationracial-justicewar-on-drugscriminal-justicesentencing-reform+1 more
The Republican National Committee signed a consent decree in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey prohibiting tactics that could intimidate Democratic voters, settling a lawsuit filed by the Democratic National Committee over the 1981 New Jersey gubernatorial election. In that …
Republican National CommitteeDemocratic National CommitteeDickinson R. Debevoisevoter suppressionrepublican partyvoting rightsracial justice
In 1950, the State Department revoked the American passport of Paul Robeson—All-American football player, Phi Beta Kappa recipient at Rutgers, Columbia Law School graduate, internationally acclaimed concert performer, actor, and persuasive political speaker. The revocation came in response to …
Paul RobesonState DepartmentJ. Edgar HooverFBIred-scarecivil-libertiespolitical-persecutionsurveillance-stateracial-justice
President Harry S. Truman signs Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948, abolishing discrimination “on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin” in the United States Armed Forces and repudiating 170 years of officially sanctioned discrimination. The order states “there …
Harry S. TrumanIsaac WoodardPresident's Committee on Equality of Treatment and OpportunityOmar BradleyKenneth Royallcivil-rightsmilitarydesegregationexecutive-orderracial-justice
On May 29, 1851, Sojourner Truth delivered a landmark speech at the Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, becoming the only woman who spoke at the convention who had ever been held in slavery. Born into slavery in Ulster County, New York around 1797, Truth had experienced a religious …
Sojourner TruthFrances Dana GageMarius Robinsonwomens-suffrageracial-justicedemocratic-exclusionintersectionalityabolitionist-movement