The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

The Senate Committee on the Judiciary held an oversight hearing last week to review the progress of the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division since the confirmation of Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez to lead the division almost two years ago.

At a Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights hearing last week, senators and civil and human rights organizations expressed concern over what one witness called an assault on voting rights comparable to the Jim Crow era.

The hearing focused on the recent wave of state legislation that will restrict voters’ access to the polls, disenfranchising millions of voters.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Blackburn ruled yesterday that the state of Alabama can implement most of its anti-immigrant H.B. 56 law, which is considered by many civil and human rights and immigration advocates to be the most draconian law of its kind in the nation.

Richard Cordray, President Obama's nominee to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, reiterated his commitment to "evenhanded, fair, and reasonable" enforcement of the nation's consumer protection laws at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee yesterday.

Two brothers who admitted they had hung a dead raccoon from a noose from a flagpole located in front of a Louisiana junior high school pled guilty to intimidating students based on race, the Justice Department announced on September 2.

Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge John Bates upheld the constitutionality of a key provision of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in a case brought by Shelby County, Alabama.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is calling on Congress to pass "strong, bipartisan proposals" contained in the American Jobs Act, provide help to struggling homeowners, and preserve recently-enacted consumer financial protections.

The tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks is a moment to honor and remember the nearly 3,000 victims who were killed on that day and to reaffirm a commitment to basic civil and human rights that stands against hatred and intolerance. In this spirit, The Leadership Conference Education Fund has partnered with USA Network in a public service campaign around the premiere of The Space Between, airing on Sunday, September 11 at 9 p.m Eastern/8 p.m. Central.

Census Bureau data released yesterday reveal significant increases in poverty and a weakened middle class in the United States, underscoring the urgent need for Congress to enact policies that create jobs and to protect programs that benefit low-income Americans.