News Releases

AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN NEW ORLEANS IS IN JEOPARDY

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Press Release

(March 9, 2010, New Orleans, Louisiana) —Last week, Advancement Project, a national civil rights organization, and the law firm of Jenner & Block filed a report in U.S. District Court exposing the incompetence of the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO). In a recent report written by U.S.

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SIGNIFICANT RACIAL DISPARITIES IN DISBURSEMENT OF STIMULUS FUNDING

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Press Release

Today marks one year since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was signed into law. An analysis by Advancement Project, a national civil rights organization, of state ARRA fund allocations in 2009 and their diversity levels reveals states with greater racial and ethnic diversity received less funds in 2009. The range for ARRA spending per state resident starts at a low of $491 in Florida and goes to a high of $2289 in Alaska.

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VIRGINIA ELECTION OFFICIALS SUED FOR UNLAWFULLY DENYING ACCESS TO VOTER FILES

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Press Release

Today, leading voter protection groups Advancement Project and Project Vote, along with pro bono cooperating attorneys from the law firm of Ropes & Gray LLP, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Norfolk against Elisa Long, general registrar of Norfolk and Nancy Rodrigues, secretary of the State Board of Elections, for denying access to certain voter registration records.

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Groundbreaking Report Explores How Intertwined Punitive Policies Contribute to America’s “Dropout Crisis”

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Press Release

Today, Advancement Project, a national civil rights organization, released a first-of-its-kind report, “Test, Punish, and Push Out: How Zero Tolerance and High-Stakes Testing Funnel Youth into the School to Prison Pipeline.” The report shows that together, zero tolerance and high-stakes testing have turned schools into hostile and alienating environments for many youth, effectively treating them as dropouts-in-waiting.

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Advancement Project Influences Comprehensive Election Reform Legislation in Ohio

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Press Release

Today, the Ohio legislature introduced election reform legislation, the Elections Enhancement Bill, HB 260 that has the potential to bring about sweeping change to the state and an improved access to the ballot box for voters. We applaud Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and the state legislature for moving in a direction that embraces the ideal of Election Day as the great equalizer – it is the one day where if all was right in our democracy, it would not matter if a person is rich, poor, black, white, educated or not, we all would have the same amount of power.

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CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS PROPOSE ZERO TOLERANCE GUIDELINES AND MODEL DISCIPLINE CODE

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Press Release

(Miami, Florida, July 30, 2009) - Today, Advancement Project, a national civil rights organization working on school discipline reform in Florida, and the Florida State Conference NAACP released an action kit and model school discipline policy that will help school districts across the state revise their discipline policies as required by Florida’s new zero tolerance law.

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Regarding Supreme Court Decision on Voting Rights Provision

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Press Release

Today the U.S. Supreme Court in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v Holder issued an opinion that preserves Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, but expands the ability of jurisdictions to opt out of Section 5 by ruling 8-to1 that municipalities across the South that have had a clean record for the last decade can seek an exemption from the law.

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Advancement Project Applauds Passage of Florida Zero Tolerance Bill

Monday, May 11, 2009

Press Release

Advancement Project, a national civil rights organization that has been working in Florida for the last eight years to reform zero tolerance school discipline policies, applauds the Florida legislature for voting unanimously last Friday to change its overly punitive school discipline law. The new law makes a number of critical improvements to the current law, including: The new law discourages schools from arresting students for minor offenses such as classroom disruption and fighting.

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Pennsylvania Lawmakers Prepare to "Unlock" the Vote

Monday, May 11, 2009

Press Release

Today, the Pennsylvania House State Government Committee passed a bill, HB 1072, that would require correctional facilities to provide voter registration materials to those individuals preparing to re-entry society from a correctional facility. Advancement Project lauds the committee’s efforts to move this important piece of legislation towards a floor vote.

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Advancement Project Outraged Bad Florida Legislation Passed

Monday, April 20, 2009

Press Release

Advancement Project, a national civil rights organization with voting protection efforts in Florida, is extremely dismayed with the Florida Senate Ethics and Election Committee, and the House Economic Development and Community Affairs Policy Council, for passing proposed bills seeking to severely restrict voting rights of the state’s residents. The committee substitute Senate Bill 956 (S.B. 956), by Sen.

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