The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Resources for Donors

A sampling of the latest reports and news from The Leadership Conference and The Leadership Conference Education Fund.

A note from Wade Henderson on planning for the future of civil and human rights in the 21st century	Karen Lawson's progress report on The Leadership Conference Education Fund's work

Reports

Restoring the Conscience of a Nation: A Report on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

Since the 1980s, the U.S. Civil Rights Commission has been debilitated by efforts to weaken and undermine its integrity and independence. This report chronicles the history of the commission, as well as offering recommendations on how return the commission to its original mandate and expand on it to preserve and protect the civil and human rights of all Americans.

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Confronting the New Faces of Hate: Hate Crimes in America 2009

This report is an update of our 2004 report, Cause for Concern. Sadly, five years later, the problem of hate crimes continues to be a significant national concern that demands priority attention. The purpose of this report is to highlight the need for a coordinated response by every sector of society to eradicate this problem. (June 2009)

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Let All Voices Be Heard - Restoring the Right of Workers to Form Unions: A National Priority and Civil and Human Rights Imperative

Today, the labor and civil rights movements confront another shared crisis — the systematic, often brutal denial of the right of American workers "to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively…and to engage in other concerted activities..." (September 2009)

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Counting in the Wake of a Catastrophe: Challenges and Recommendations for the 2010 Census in the Gulf Coast Region

Four years after the catastrophic combination of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and multiple failures of government preparation and response, this report reviews factors that contribute to the unique difficulties in obtaining an accurate count in the Gulf Coast region for the 2010 Census. (August 2009)

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Transition in Trouble: Action Needed to Ensure a Successful Digital Television Transition

On February 17, 2009, the nation's full-power television stations will turn off their analog signals and exclusively broadcast digitally. This report discusses the challenges to a successful national transition to digital television, and offers an action agenda to help meet them. (July 2008)

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The Leadership Conference in the News

Reviving Civil Rights
Few parts of the federal government veered more radically off course in the Bush years than the Justice Department, including its vital civil rights division.

Education as a Civil Rights Issue
Civil rights groups have begun a welcome attack on a House bill that would temporarily exempt the states from the all-important accountability requirements in the No Child Left Behind Act, which was signed into law in 2002.

Sessions and 'that crack cocaine thing'
LCCR President and CEO Wade Henderson writes about the need -- after 23 years of failure -- to finally do something to fix the disparities in sentencing between crack cocaine and powder.

Let's debate real issues'
LCCR President and CEO Wade Henderson says it's time to get attention focused on the real issues, and not follow the bombastic distractions of broadcasters like Glenn Beck.

What Kind Of Justice Would Sotomayor Be?
"The best evidence" of her future rulings can be "drawn from ones she's already made," Henderson said, not "her ethnicity or empathy or gender."

LCCR President and CEO Wade Henderson speaking on Judge Sotomayor's nomination (watch video)

Issues & Strategies

Moving Ahead with a Human Rights Agenda
Reconstituting the US Civil Rights Commission into a Civil and Human Rights Commission

CEDAW
LCCREF initiative to inform citizens, the media and decision-makers for responsible US engagement on around the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Bridging Civil Rights in the US and Brazil
LCCREF, in partnership with the Center for Strategic and International Studies will spearhead a pilot project to identify the needs and challenges of the Brazilian civil rights movement

Combating Hate Crimes and the Durban Review Conference
LCCREF's participated to ensure that the Durban Review Conference was a forum for credible discussions on racism and related intolerance

Criminal Justice Reform Initiative
LCCR and LCCREF are leading a public education, communications, grassroots and lobbying campaign to address the areas of particular concern: racial profiling; federal cocaine sentencing disparities; juvenile justice system; and prisoner reentry.