1963-1973

CREATION OF THE COMMITTEE

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law was formed at the request of President John F. Kennedy in the summer of 1963 following a meeting of 244 lawyers in the East Room of the White House. President Kennedy urged the lawyers to use their training and influence to move the struggle for the protection of civil rights from the streets to the courts. 

The Lawyers’ Committee opened its first office in Jackson, Mississippi, the heart of the civil rights movement, on June 14, 1965. The Committee urged passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Following the assassinations of Dr. King and Senator Robert Kennedy in 1968, the Committee opened 11 more local offices in cities across the country.

1973-1983

GROWTH,PROGRESS & BACKLASH

The explosive expansion of civil rights and racial justice in the ‘60s was followed by a period of retrenchment in the ‘70s. The Committee fought against constitutional amendments that promoted the use of bussing as a way to desegregate public schools and also worked to deny exemption to private schools that were segregated on the basis of race.

The Committee worked to extend the Voting Rights Act in 1975 and 1982, and fought for the Attorneys Fees Awards Act of 1976. It was active in school desegregation in Boston and in employment discrimination in Houston. But perhaps the greatest success for the Committee was in voting rights in Mississippi. After a 14-year fight from 1965-1979, Black voters in Mississippi won an equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect candidates of their choice to the legislature.

1983-1993

NEW PROJECTS AT HOME & ABROAD

In its third decade, the Lawyers’ Committee advocated for racial, ethnic, and gender justice by litigating cases involving Title IX, affirmative action, equality in municipal services, education, voting rights, and employment rights. The Committee contributed to the development and passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 and launched its Fair and Affordable Housing Project. dismantled a dated racial coding system that denied private apartments to thousands of Black and Latino individuals in Miami.

The Southern Africa Project was the Lawyers’ Committee’s most successful international program; it played an important role in the ultimate defeat of apartheid in South Africa and in the independence of Namibia in 1990.

1993-2003

PROTECTING DEMOCRACY

In the ‘90s, the push and pull of progress and backlash in the fight for racial justice continued. A rash of arson attacks targeting Black churches led the Committee to mobilize 30 law firms to help congregations in six states with insurance, construction, zoning and other needs. The Committee also secured relocation for Black communities adjacent to polluted Superfund sites in Florida and Virginia and helped prevent a uranium enrichment facility from opening near two Black communities in Homer, LA.

Thousands of complaints about voting abuses during the 2000 election led the Committee to file suit against Florida officials emphasizing the aggressive exclusion of Black and Latino voters for false claims that they were convicted felons. In the aftermath, the Election Protection Program was born.

2003-2013

A NEW ERA

In the early 21st century, the Lawyers’ Committee continued to advocate for equitable access to educational opportunities, to push for the availability and quality of affordable housing, to protect voting rights, and to fight discrimination in the workplace for Black people and people of color. With its suite of voter protection hotlines and field programs, Election Protection became an integral part of every election.

In 2003, the Committee filed briefs in two of the most important recent Supreme Court decisions addressing race in college admissions, affirming the value of diversity in higher education and permitting the use of race as a consideration in admissions. Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Lawyers’ Committee provided much needed legal assistance and advocacy work for those whose lives were tragically impacted.

2013-2023

REACHING NEW HEIGHTS

Headquartered in Washington, DC, with six racial justice advocacy programs and growing influence on Capitol Hill, the Lawyers’ Committee is proud to celebrate 60 years of action. The Election Protection Hotline and Coalition is now the nation’s largest voter protection effort. Following Election Day 2020, the Committee fought the disenfranchisement of Black voters and voters of color in more than 10 cases. After a decade of litigation, the Committee reached a landmark settlement in 2021 ensuring four Maryland HBCUs will receive $555 million to bolster academic programs, financial aid offerings, and faculty recruitment. Now the leading organization utilizing civil litigation to hold white supremacist groups accountable, in 2019, the Lawyers’ Committee secured the first ruling that online harassment can unlawfully interfere with equal enjoyment of public accommodations.