Census and Data Equity
Promoting smart investments and policies to ensure a fair and accurate census and data collection that serves our communities
Read our latest report — “PERSEVERE: Our Ongoing Fight for an Equal Justice Judiciary”
The Fair Courts Program
The federal courts are not working for all of us. Too often, courts favor the wealthy and powerful over everyday people, creating corrupt outcomes and perpetuating inequality. For our democracy to work as it should, judges must be committed to achieving the promise inscribed on the Supreme Court: “Equal Justice Under Law.” That’s how we protect our rights — including voting rights, health care, LGBTQ equality, disability rights, protections for immigrants, rights of working people, freedom from discrimination based on religion, environmental protections, gun safety, and more.
Now, under the Biden administration and the 118th Congress, we have new opportunities to transform our courts for the better. We must demand a federal judiciary that will uphold the rights of all people in America. That means the White House and Senate must prioritize nominating and confirming judges who have a demonstrated commitment to civil and human rights, who are fair-minded with a progressive vision of the law, and who reflect and represent the rich diversity of our nation. This diversity includes race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, ethnicity, national origin, socio-economic status, and experiential and professional background.
Congress must also respond to the ongoing judicial ethics crisis by passing legislation that modernizes and strengthens our courts, including legislation on ethics reforms, such as extension of a binding Code of Conduct for Supreme Court justices, further transparency measures, and ongoing investigation into the escalating reports of misconduct. Congress must also pass structural reforms such as expanding the number of authorized judgeships for circuit and district courts, and Congress should also consider other structural reforms to the Supreme Court.
Key Resources
The Leadership Conference has a trove of fair courts resources available online — below are just our most recent. Check out our resource library to find more resources.
How do nominations work? Check out our Supreme Court Nominations Process flow chart!
Judicial Ethics
To advance equal justice and strengthen our democracy, the Supreme Court must work for all of us, not just the wealthy and powerful. Yet media reports have alleged escalating and egregious patterns of ethics violations and misconduct by the justices who serve for life on our nation’s highest court. The need for serious and immediate action on judicial ethics is clear. We call for immediate passage of robust ethics reform legislation, including an enforceable Code of Conduct for Supreme Court justices, as well as other needed transparency measures. Furthermore, we urge sustained oversight and investigation into reports identifying disturbing patterns of ethics violations by Supreme Court justices.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
The historic confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson embodied our decades-long work and demands to strengthen the federal judiciary with incredible judges who possess a demonstrated commitment to civil and human rights and who bring with them previously excluded professional and personal diversity. Justice Jackson is the first Black woman and first public defender to ever serve on our nation’s highest court.
The Coalition
Together with our coalition members and the Fair Courts Task Force, we educate the public about the impact of federal courts, evaluate the civil rights records of federal judicial nominees, talk to decision makers, and mobilize public participation in defense of a judiciary that recognizes and protects the rights of all people.
Capitol Hill
We work with Congress to demand the federal courts recognize and uphold civil rights. Both chambers of Congress must be vigilant in performing their respective duties. In addition to passing legislation to modernize our courts, senators must prioritize the selection and confirmation of diverse, pro-civil rights judicial nominees, and representatives must use their voices and influence to advocate for fair courts.
Organizing
We build strategies to empower diverse community voices in the fight for our federal courts. By leveraging our coalition’s strength and organizing from the local to national levels, we are expanding and engaging new leaders, holding officials accountable, and bringing to light the courts’ impact on the issues that matter most.
Shaping the Narrative
We know that if you care about protecting civil and human rights, then you need to care about our federal courts. That is why — by leveraging online and digital tools — we are breaking new ground in creative storytelling to illustrate what is at stake in the fight for a fair and impartial judiciary.
Latest News
Judge Rebecca Pennell Will Bring Crucial Experience to the Federal Bench
WASHINGTON — Lena Zwarensteyn, senior director of the fair courts program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, released the following statement after the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on several judicial nominees, including the nomination of Judge Rebecca Pennell to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington:
Adeel Mangi Belongs on the Third Circuit
The bigoted attacks on Mr. Mangi are attacks on democracy and on all Americans.
125+ Organizations Call for Confirmation of Adeel Mangi, Denounce Anti-Muslim Attacks on Historic and Qualified Nominee
WASHINGTON — The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, joined by 125 national, state, and local organizations, wrote to senators today expressing strong support for the confirmation of Adeel Mangi to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and condemning the baseless and bigoted attacks being waged against him.
In order to tackle some of the most complex civil rights crises facing us today, our nation first needs complete, accurate, and disaggregated data to give us a full understanding of who is impacted and how situations are evolving. Data are necessary, even though not sufficient, to advance equity and justice.
Nowhere is that endeavor more clear than with the national decennial census. The U.S. Constitution places the census at the core of our democratic system of government by calling for a count of the nation’s population every 10 years. The census and the related American Community Survey provide information that is the cornerstone of knowledge about the American people.
Census data shape the future of our community and define our voices in Congress. It determines how more than $1.5 trillion in federal government resources are distributed each year; where schools, roads, and hospitals are built; how many congressional seats are apportioned among the states; and allocates political representation in Congress, statehouses, and local legislative bodies. When communities are missed in the census, they are deprived of equitable political representation and access to critical resources.
Counting every person residing in the United States is a difficult endeavor, and despite the Census Bureau’s best efforts, some households are missed by the count, some are counted more than once, and still others respond with incorrect information. However, because the accuracy of the census directly affects our nation’s ability to ensure equal representation and equal access to important governmental resources for all people in America, ensuring a fair and accurate census must be regarded as one of the most significant civil rights issues facing the country today.
Roadmap to the 2030 Census
As we make our way to 2030, there are a number of steps and milestones to achieve in preparation for the census. Our roadmap outlines best practices of the 2020 Census and the importance of engaging communities early for the next census count.
Census Task Force
The Census Task Force, housed at The Leadership Conference, is made up of core national members of the civil rights community with expertise in the census. The task force seeks to educate and influence Congress and the executive branch about the government investment and sound policy development needed to ensure a comprehensive American Community Survey and a fair and accurate census in every one of the nation’s communities.
Census Counts
The Census Counts campaign, housed at The Leadership Conference Education Fund, is a collaborative effort involving organizations that live and work in the communities most at risk of being missed in the census. Through education, training, organizing, and outreach, these organizers and advocates work to ensure that the hardest-to-count communities are counted in the census.
States COUNT Action Network
The States COUNT Action Network was established as a space to hold field strategy discussions and provide resources for the get-out-the-count (GOTC) phase of the 2020 Census. S-CAN, housed under Census Counts and jointly run with State Voices, consists of state and national groups with state affiliates that include advocacy organizations, direct service providers, and more. S-CAN continues to update members on the latest post-2020 Census operational developments and provide resources to prepare for the 2030 Census.
Data Equity
The data equity program is meeting the need to achieve better data collection policies by working to ensure that national and state partners have the information, strategies, and resources to yield more robust and inclusive data collection, analysis, and reporting and use that data to identify and remedy disparities that undermine equal opportunity and harm vulnerable communities.
Information Nation: The Need for Improved Federal Civil Rights Data Collection ›
Misinformation Nation ›
Letter on Revising Race and Ethnicity Standards ›
Latest News
Learn More
Census Counts, housed at The Leadership Conference Education Fund, has all the resources you need to educate, mobilize, and assist your community in participating in the 2030 Census. Check out our resource library to learn more and get started.
