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We fight alongside people facing the effects of gentrification like Amira Moore. Our work empowers the people and communities who need it most, “We can do more than we think. There’s a path to equity, we just have to step to it.” –Ms. Moore
For more than 50 years, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee has been on the frontlines of the fight for civil rights in our community. We deploy the best legal talent, we tackle the tough cases, we fight, and we win.
Our work is as important today as it has ever been. Through your support, you can play a role in creating justice for thousands of marginalized members of our community. Together, we will dismantle injustice and pursue lasting change.
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About Us
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Letters to the Editor
D.C. in Brief
Virginia Attorney General Files Amicus
In Favor of Hamas Attack Victims
Virginia’s attorney general is recommending that survivors and relatives of people killed during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack in Israel be allowed to continue their lawsuit in federal court against supporters of Hamas.
The recommendation is part of an amicus brief that Attorney General Jason Miyares filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
The court is scheduled to rule soon on a motion by American Muslims for Palestine and the National Students for Justice in Palestine to dismiss the lawsuit that accuses them of providing material support to Hamas.
The lawsuit and Virginia amicus brief accuse the pro-Palestine groups of violating the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The Act gives American citizens injured by "an act of international terrorism" that is "committed, planned, or authorized by" a foreign terrorist organization a right to sue anyone who "aids and abets, by knowingly providing substantial assistance, or who conspires with the person who committed such an act of international terrorism," and to recover treble damages.
Miyares said “the lawsuit alleges that [American Muslims for Palestine]’s material support for Hamas has persisted for decades, originating from its predecessor organizations, including the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) and the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP), whose board members were convicted of providing material support in the form of millions of dollars to Hamas.”
American Muslims for Palestine is a nonprofit organization based in Falls Church, Virginia. It describes itself on its website as “a grassroots organization."
Legal Fallout Continues Against
Trump’s Election Fraud Supporters
Repercussions from Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election continue after his former attorney was disbarred in Washington, D.C., and an election machine company falsely accused of fraud settled a defamation lawsuit.
Rudy Giuliani, who used legal action in several states to try to nullify vote counts that gave the victory to Joe Biden, was accused by the District of Columbia Bar Counsel of knowingly filing a lawsuit in Pennsylvania based on untruthful evidence.
Giuliani claimed in the lawsuit that election boards in seven counties deliberately counted illegal mail-in ballots to give Biden the state’s victory.
Washington’s attorney disciplinary board called Giuliani’s claims “utterly false.”
The loss of his license this week in Washington follows a similar disbarment in New York last summer. It means the formerly famous federal prosecutor, crime-fighting New York mayor and law firm partner is no longer an attorney unless he can win a final appeal.
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Legal Briefs
We Could Use Your Help
Thousands of DC residents need a lawyer, but can’t afford one. They could be illegally evicted from their homes, lose custody of their children, experience domestic violence, and more, all because they lack legal representation.
You could make a difference. By making a donation to the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, you will provide free, high-quality, zealous legal representation to low-income DC residents.
Your support could prevent homelessness, domestic violence, hunger, or family separation. In fact, if just 10 people who see this ad give $28 to Legal Aid, it will be enough to staff an experienced attorney at the courthouse for a day.
That way, DC residents like Keith King (pictured above) can get the legal representation they need to win their cases. As Mr. King put it, if it wasn’t for his Legal Aid lawyer, “I would have been homeless again.”
Here is the link to the Legal Aid website for donations: https://www.legalaiddc.org/donate-to-legal-aid/
For more information, contact Rob Pergament at Legal Aid at rpergament@legalaiddc.org
D.C.’s Congressional Delegate Asks
Postal Service About Late Deliveries
The District of Columbia’s delegate to Congress is making inquiries to the U.S. Postal Service about why residents in some neighborhoods are not getting their mail.
Theft is expected in many cases but late deliveries or damaged mail also are common, she said in a letter last week to Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan.
“I understand customers often do not even receive their mail at all on certain days,” Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton wrote in her letter.
One of her posts on X republished a message from a constituent that said, “Our carrier dumps whatever he/she doesn't feel like delivering into my box. I often get misdelivered DMV letters, bills, medical lab results (based on the label) in my box!”
Another constituent complained about not receiving mail for as long as a week.
Norton has said she is considering holding a public meeting to discuss mail delivery problems.
“Especially troubling is the repeated lack of responsiveness by station managers to customers,” she wrote in her letter to the Postmaster General. “I understand that phones are frequently not answered when my constituents call to make complaints, and, when they go to the post offices themselves, they are not allowed to speak to managers or are told they are unavailable and managers do not return messages.”
Norton has raised her concerns about mail service with the Postal Service at least twice in the past 10 years.
In addition to citizen complaints, her interest was fueled by Postal Service inspector general reports in 2014 and 2016 that found deliveries in the Washington, D.C., were among the worst nationally for delays and misdirected mail.
Postal Service officials said they place a high priority on prompt delivery and are trying to address issues raised by Norton and the inspector general.
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Latest News
Revised Indictment Accuses Trump of Crimes
In Plotting to Overturn 2020 Election
A revised indictment against Donald Trump unsealed in federal court Wednesday portrays the former president as knowingly engaging in criminal behavior to try to hang on to the presidency.
The new court filing was submitted by a Justice Department special prosecutor who is prosecuting Trump in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on charges of election interference for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Special prosecutor Jack Smith resubmitted the indictment to comply with a July 1 Supreme Court ruling that said presidents are immune from prosecution for their “official acts” but not their unofficial or personal acts.
Smith argues in the 165-page court filing that Trump’s lies to the public, election officials, and his own vice president fell outside the scope of his authority, thereby representing personal actions that should make him criminally liable. He called his effort to overturn the election “private criminal conduct.”
"When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office," the filing said.
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Senators Blast Supreme Court
For Presidential Immunity Ruling
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee berated the Supreme Court last week for its July 1 decision that said most presidential actions are immune from prosecution.
The decision in Trump v. United States was prompted by the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol and the former president’s effort to overturn results of the election.
The ruling was a victory for Donald Trump as he faces charges of obstruction of the election. He argues that presidents should be granted absolute criminal and civil immunity for all their actions.
Some lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee said the ruling set a dangerous precedent that would allow presidents to get away with irresponsible behavior that endangers U.S. democracy.
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., referred to Trump and his administration’s officials who helped in trying to block the presidential victory for Joe Biden, when he said, “The actors behind these actions clearly feel untouchable.”