The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

The University of Colorado at Boulder recently released a report analyzing the key factors that led to the defeat (49 percent – 51 percent) of Amendment 46, a ballot initiative that would have amended the Colorado state constitution to ban equal opportunity in public higher education, employment and contracting in 2008.

Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, was one of four recipients of The Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights today.  Recipients are honored for advocating "tirelessly for human rights, both at home and abroad."

"I cannot begin to tell you how humbled I am to receive this award in the name of Eleanor Roosevelt, whose devotion to civil and human rights gave birth to a set of universal principles that continue to transform our world for good," said Henderson.  "This award really belongs to The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 national organizations working together for an America as good as its ideals."

The U.S. Census Bureau released the first results of the 2010 census today. These findings were delivered to President Obama by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, as required by the Constitution.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case about whether an Arizona law prohibiting employers from hiring undocumented immigrants conflicts with federal immigration law. 

Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, appears in a USA Network/NBC Characters Unite special, "Tom Brokaw Presents Bridging the Divide," as one of several civil and human rights advocates commenting on the "state of the civil rights movement in our changing nation."

The special aired on Friday, December 10.  Check out the video on the Characters Unite website or click "Read More" to view the video.

The Local Community Radio Act, which will help increase the number of low power FM (LPFM) stations in the United States, is poised to become law following passage in the House of Representatives on Friday and passage in the Senate on Saturday.

Sen. Harry Reid, D. Nev., has scheduled votes on the DREAM Act, which would provide undocumented immigrant youth whose parents brought them to the U.S. with a path to citizenship if they pursue higher education or serve in the military, and a bill to repeal "don't ask don't tell," the current law requiring lesbian and gay servicemembers to conceal their sexual orientation or face expulsion from the military.

Both bills are top priorities for the civil and human rights community.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday in a case that concerns whether overcrowding in California prisons, which has led to grossly unsanitary conditions and inadequate access to medical and mental health care, warrants a court ordered reduction of nearly 40,000 prisoners within two years.

Women's rights advocates recently told the Senate Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law that it is critical for the U.S. as a global leader on human rights to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

"The United States has long stood for the principles of equal justice, the rule of law, respect for women, and the defense of human dignity. We know that women around the world look to the United States as a moral leader on human rights. And yet when it comes to the Women's Treaty, which reflects the fundamental principle that women’s rights are human rights, we stand with only a handful of countries that have not ratified," said Melanne Verveer, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for the Office of Global Women's Issues in the U.S. Department of State, in her testimony. "And we stand on the sidelines, unable to use the Women's Treaty to join with champions of human rights who seek to use it as a means to protect and defend women’s basic human rights."

Efforts to approve an extension of emergency unemployment benefits before a November 30 deadline were blocked in the Senate last night, leaving millions of workers and their families facing the potential loss of vital income heading into the holiday season.