By: Barbara Hart, Principal in G&E’s Civil Rights Practice The Biden Administration released guidance in response to the Supreme Court's June 2023 decision on race-conscious university admissions processes, advising higher education institutions to sustain diversity initiatives within legal boundaries. Last week, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil [...]

By: Irene Lax, Senior Counsel in G&E’s Civil Rights Practice Group The Madison County School District in Kentucky recently settled a lawsuit to remedy racism after an investigation by the DOJ found that school administrators failed to respond to reports of hostile racism in the form of racial epithets by a Kentucky high school student and her [...]

By: Irene Lax, Senior Counsel in G&E’s Civil Rights Practice Group California is coming closer to becoming the first state to ban discrimination based on caste, as a new bill passed the California Senate Judiciary Committee in April 2023. The bill would add caste as a protected category under California’s anti-discrimination laws, aiming to eliminate bias, economic [...]

By: Irene Lax, Senior Counsel in G&E’s Civil Rights Practice Group As Black History Month rolled out, an advanced placement (AP) course on African American studies was rejected by Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis. DeSantis’ administration claimed the course’s content “…is inexplicably contrary to Florida law,” and was an attempt at “indoctrinating” high school students.  The rejection of [...]

By: Irene Lax, Senior Counsel in G&E’s Civil Rights Practice Group In an Amended Compaint filed on behalf of students of Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU), plaintiffs seek to eliminate remaining vestiges of a racially divided higher education system in Florida’s public colleges and universities. Plaintiffs allege that the State of Florida has habitually maintained a [...]