On Tuesday, April 21, the Department of Justice indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a nonprofit that for more than 50 years has documented hate and political violence, taking on the Ku Klux Klan, systemic bigotry, and the rise of Christian nationalism. The move has drawn swift backlash from civil rights advocates, who warn […]
DOJ Targets FACE Act While Anti-Abortion Violence Rises
On April 14, the Department of Justice published an 882 page report claiming that the enforcement of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act was “weaponized” under the Biden administration. FACE is a longstanding federal law designed to protect access to reproductive healthcare by prohibiting obstruction, threats, and violence directed at abortion providers, […]
“The Equal Rights Amendment Has Been Ratified. It Is the Law”: U.S. House Resolution Declares ERA 28th Amendment
by Carrie N. Baker for Ms. Magazine In an opinion issued on Wednesday, Jan. 26, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) helped clear the way for the Equal Rights Amendment, according to leading ERA advocates. In January of 2020, under Trump, the OLC issued an opinion arguing that Congress had no power to remove a […]
Senate Confirms Kristen Clarke to Lead Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department
On Tuesday, the Senate voted to confirm Kristen Clarke as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Justice Department. Clarke is the first woman and the first Black woman to lead the division. The Senate voted 51-48, with Sen. Susan Collins as the only Republican to vote in favor of her nomination. Clarke was […]
Attorney General Merrick Garland Asks Congress for $1 Billion for Office of Violence Against Women
On Tuesday, Attorney General Merrick Garland asked Congress for over $35 billion in funding for the Justice Department, including $1 billion for the Office of Violence Against Women (OVW). The OVW assists state, local, territorial, and tribal programs in working to end gender-based violence. In addition to the $1 billion, $120 million is provided to […]
Uncategorized
113 Organizations Denounce Federal Proposals to Redefine Gender
Last week, 113 organizations that work with survivors of sexual violence and advocate for the rights of survivors wrote a letter to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Labor regarding a recent Trump administration proposal to define gender as an “immutable […]
DOJ Attacks Protections for Transgender Employees
This past Wednesday, The Department of Justice (DOJ) wrote in a brief to the Supreme Court that the 1964 Civil Rights Act federal workplace protections do not apply to transgender employees, arguing it is legal to discriminate based on gender identity. The DOJ submitted this brief as the Supreme Court decides if it will hear […]
Man Pleads Guilty To Threatening Minnesota Abortion Clinics
Anti-abortion extremist Michael John Harris pled guilty on Wednesday to threatening to kill staff, patients, and doctors at two Minnesota reproductive health clinics.