The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court imposed a new standard on employers seeking to comply with federal employment discrimination laws in its 5-4 decision in Ricci v. DeStefano, a race discrimination lawsuit against the city of New Haven, Connecticut.

Ricci involved the claim by one Latino and nine White firefighters that the city's decision not to certify the results of a firefighter promotion test discriminated against them.  After the test was administered, the city had found that it had a discriminatory effect. The city concluded the test was biased and, after extensive consideration and five public hearings, chose to abandon the discriminatory exam, in order to avoid facing a discrimination lawsuit.  Two lower courts agreed that the city made the correct decision.

However, the Supreme Court ruled, in an opinion by Justice Anthony Kennedy,  that the city violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of race, religion, gender, and national origin, by not certifying the test.  In doing so, the Court created a new standard that gives employers very little room to rectify situations where a policy is found to have a discriminatory effect after the policy has been applied.

Arizona's equal opportunity programs are facing a renewed assault this week after the state legislature voted to place an anti-equal opportunity initiative onto the 2010 Arizona General Election ballot.

California businessman and millionaire Ward Connerly had attempted to qualify the initiative for the ballot in 2008. However, the so-called Arizona "Civil Rights" Initiative, Proposition 104, failed to get on the ballot after the Arizona's Secretary of State disqualified more than 40 percent of the petition signatures collected by Connerly's campaign.  Connerly had faced numerous allegations of fraudulent activities and even profiteering around these initiatives in Arizona and other states.  Under Arizona state law, an initiative must have 230,047 valid signatures  from the public before it is placed on the ballot. Having failed to garner enough public support with valid petition signatures, Connerly and his supporters have chosen to go through the legislature, which is currently controlled by Republicans.

The vote on this anti-equal opportunity ballot initiative in 2010 could affect programs that many Arizonans consider essential for ensuring that all Arizonans have equal access to opportunities in education and employment. Speaking after the state Senate vote Monday, state Sen. Rebecca Rios, D. Apache Junction, noted that although some progress has been made in providing equal opportunity, there is still a great "need" for programs that are designed to level the playing field. Programs that could be affected include an Arizona State University initiative that helps Native Americans transition from life on the reservation to life at college and a counseling program for teen fathers in Phoenix.

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) is calling for the Senate to lift restrictions that make it harder for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) to provide legal services to low-income people.

The LSC is a non-profit corporation created by Congress in 1974 to ensure equal access to justice for millions of Americans who need but cannot pay for a lawyer. The LSC is primarily funded by Congress and gives grants to free legal aid organizations around the country that help low-income Americans with legal matters. 

In a letter to the Senate Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, LCCR said: "In these times of economic distress, when more and more people require help in battling foreclosure and eviction, securing unemployment and benefits, and dealing with medical and insurance matters, the Senate must assist those most vulnerable by funding the LSC sufficiently and by lifting no-cost restrictions."

Since the 1990s, the LSC has suffered budget cuts and a number of restrictions – including those preventing legal aid lawyers from collecting attorneys' fees and LSC clients from joining class action lawsuits – which have forced it to turn away nearly a million cases a year.  The House passed a budget recently that included significant increases in funding and removed the restriction on the collection of attorneys' fees, but left in place many of the other restrictions.  The Senate is expected to consider the funding bill for the LSC this week.

Although employment laws intended to protect people from workplace discrimination based on their sexual orientation and gender identity are on the books in local communities and states around the country, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation reports that more than 3 in 5 U.S. citizens live in areas that do not have these laws.

Only 12 states and the District of Columbia have banned employment discrimination based on both sexual orientation and gender identity.  Eight states have outlawed employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Many businesses are finding that it is becoming more and more important to have policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in order to remain competitive. The HRC Foundation found that 85 percent of Fortune 500 businesses now have non-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation, up from 51 percent in 2000. Thirty-five percent of Fortune 500 businesses have non-discrimination policies that include gender identity or expression.  In 2000, only three Fortune 500 companies had this policy.

Today, the House of Representatives re-introduced the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a bill that would prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in all states across the country. ENDA would extend the same federal employment discrimination protections currently given to race, religion, gender, national origin, age, and disability.

"We look forward to the swift passage of this legislation and seeing President Barack Obama sign it into law so that our nation can continue the progress it began in civil rights 50 years ago," said Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. 

Today is the 31st anniversary of Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, a 1978 Supreme Court case that banned race-based quotas in college admissions while stating that these institutions have a "compelling state interest" in achieving diverse student bodies.  The Court ruled that admissions boards can use race as one of many factors to achieve diversity. 

The University of California-Davis School of Medicine had two admissions processes, one for standard applicants, and another for minority and economically disadvantaged students. After not being able to attain the desired minority and economically disadvantaged students it sought, UC Davis created the special admissions process in 1973. Each year, 16 of the 100 slots for medical school students were reserved for admits under the special program.

Despite Title IX's advances to curtail gender discrimination in educational and athletic programs, there are still gender disparities, particularly in the fields of mathematics, science, engineering, and technology. In 2003, women composed only 30 percent of the doctorate degrees in science and 9 percent in engineering. Additionally, very few women continue on to high-level faculty positions in these fields.

Since its enactment, Title IX has been frequently challenged in court , but two recent Supreme Court decisions have upheld and expanded Title IX's reach. In 1992, Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools, the Supreme Court ruled that students who are victims of sexual harassment and discrimination could be rewarded monetary damages.  And in 2005, the Court ruled in Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education that Title IX prevents schools from retaliating against individuals who protest gender discrimination, yet another step toward achieving gender equality.

The Digital Television Transition, which took place on June 12, was largely a success. A public education program that started more than a year before the transition was far-reaching and effective, as government agencies and LCCREF worked in harmony with local community organizations around the country.

Along with our partner organizations, we were able to directly help thousands of people before and during the transition. Often, the already-existing relationships between local organizations and the people in their communities were the key to success in finding and helping those most in need.

The majority of problems that people had on the day of the transition were due to problems with the installation of DTV converter boxes. Some who had a converter box and antenna were not able to connect them to their TV. Our assistance centers were able to help with troubleshooting, and were also able to help people apply for coupons if they still needed a converter box.

Our work does not stop here; we are still running a national coupon exchange program and offering support to those who are now without access to television. Troubleshooting over the next few weeks will be vital in ensuring everyone has made the switch to digital television.

Today, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution apologizing to African Americans for slavery and segregation.  The resolution was introduced by Senator Tom Harkin, D. Iowa, and Senator Sam Brownback. R. Kan. 

In the resolution, the Senate "expresses its recommitment to the principle that all people are created equal and endowed with inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and calls on all people of the United States to work toward eliminating racial prejudices, injustices and discrimination from our society."

Wade Henderson, president and CEO of LCCR, said:

"Slavery and the western slave trade are crimes against humanity and will forever be known as our republic's original sin. A formal apology by the U.S. Congress for the dehumanization and racism wrought by both the enslavement of African Americans and for Jim Crow segregation will admittedly never right such a grave wrong, but it is an important first step in acknowledging its tortured legacy.

For almost a century after our civil war, African Americans endured numerous civil and human rights violations including lynchings, deprivation of the right to vote, and other forms disenfranchisement borne out of virulent racism.

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights commends Senators Harkin and Brownback for introducing a resolution that appropriately speaks to this past collective injustice. It represents an important advancement for civil and human rights, as well as for racial healing and reconciliation.

This Senate resolution – similar to one passed by the House last year – acknowledges the loss of human dignity and opportunity that continues to this day, and serves as a reminder for future generations that the evils of slavery and racial segregation can never be accepted again.

Today, a Pennsylvania judge sentenced the two teenagers convicted of simple assault for their role in the July 2008 fatal beating of Luiz Ramirez, a 25 year-old Mexican immigrant, to prison for up to 23 months.

"The meager sentences handed to the defendants today leaves justice gasping for further redress. The failure to hold these defendants responsible for their atrocious crimes denies justice not just to the Ramirez family, but also to the entire community by failing to deter similar crimes in the future," said Gladys Limón, staff attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

In May, a jury acquitted the two teenagers of more serious charges, including aggravated assault, third degree murder and ethnic intimidation, the Pennsylvania hate crimes law.  The acquittal on these charges sparked outrage from the civil rights community who pointed to numerous reports that the attack was racially motivated.

The Justice Department is currently investigating whether to prosecute the two teenagers under federal civil rights statutes