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SPLC founder Morris Dees on why the Voting Rights Act still matters

By Morris Dees, Founder, Chief Trial Attorney
03/25/2013

Forty-eight years ago, SPLC founder Morris Dees stood at the Alabama Capitol at the end of the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march and heard Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak on the importance of the vote in democracy. In his view, Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — the section that contains extra voting rights protections that apply mainly to the South — is still necessary.

Supreme Court Decision Major Blow to Anti-Immigrant Laws

By Mary Bauer, Legal Director
06/25/2012

Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court is a blow to Arizona’s anti-immigrant law and similar copycat laws that have sprung up in other states. The court’s decision affirms that much about these laws is unconstitutional because many of their provisions are preempted by federal law. The decision also shows the court has significant concerns about the one provision they allowed to stand.

My Congressional Testimony

08/02/2013
Earlier this week, I was honored to testify before a special Congressional panel on race and justice in America. I talked about the Zimmerman case, the unfinished business of the civil rights movement, and our work for justice and fairness in the courtrooms and classrooms of our country.

Statement from Civil Rights Memorial Center Director Lecia Brooks in Response to Verdict in Zimmerman Murder Trial

By Lecia Brooks, Director of Outreach
07/13/2013

"Nearly 60 years after the murder of Emmett Till, the uncomfortable truth is that for some in this country, young men and boys of color are still considered disposable. 

Supreme Court ruling in DOMA is victory over bigotry and discrimination; more work ahead

By Morris Dees, Founder, Chief Trial Attorney
06/26/2013
This is a day that will long be remembered as a milestone in our nation’s march toward equality for all people. By striking down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as unconstitutional, the U.S. Supreme Court has said definitively that our government can no longer deny federal benefits to same-sex couples.

Supreme Court decision guts key provisions of Voting Rights Act, opens door to new forms of discrimination

By Richard Cohen, President
06/25/2013

In its decision to gut key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, the U.S. Supreme Court brushed aside the considered judgment of a nearly unanimous Congress and opened the door to new forms of discrimination against minority voters.

Immigration reform must protect guest workers from exploitation

By Naomi Tsu
06/24/2013

As the U.S. Senate considers immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for 11 million immigrants, there is still a critical need for the legislation to reform the nation’s flawed guest worker program and protect these workers from exploitation. 

New H-2B wage rule will better protect U.S. and migrant workers

By Meredith Stewart, SPLC staff attorney
06/11/2013

The SPLC submitted comments this week in support of the U.S. Department of Labor and Department of Homeland Security’s new H-2B wage rule. This rule, which was implemented on a temporary basis in April, represents an important victory for U.S. workers and a milestone in the SPLC’s advocacy on behalf of H-2B guest workers.

 

 

Flawed study seeks to justify discrimination against U.S. workers

By Lori Johnson | Originally posted at NC Policy Watch
06/07/2013

If there is a dominant myth in the debate over America’s treatment of the men and women who harvest our food, it is that U.S. workers won’t take these jobs. A recent study by a researcher named Michael Clemens at the Center for Global Development (CGD), a Washington, DC think tank, and released by the Rupert Murdoch backed Partnership for a New American Economy, makes just such a claim.

SPLC Praises Polis’ Appropriations Amendment to Defund Failing 287(g) program

By Jim Knoepp
06/05/2013