Recent Developments: Advocating in an Anti DEI Climate

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While racial justice litigation and advocacy has never been an easy undertaking, the work has become increasingly difficult because of last year's U.S. Supreme Court decision finding the use of certain race-conscious admissions policies in college admission decisions violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Not only has this decision led states to ban DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives from higher education, but even disparate impact regulations of federal agencies have come under attack by litigation and rule-making petitions filed by Attorney Generals of several "Red" states. This panel will cover some of these recent developments and discuss how they could affect litigation and non-litigation advocacy strategies on behalf of low-income communities of color, as well as ongoing efforts to make legal aid workplaces more equitable and inclusive places to work.

Steven Fischbach, JD

Litigation Director

Virginia Poverty Law Center

Steve Fischbach is the Litigation Director for the Virginia Poverty Law Center, the state support center for all civil Legal Aid programs in Virginia. In that capacity, Steve helps Legal Aid attorneys develop impact litigation cases, particularly in the areas of housing and racial justice. He was tasked with assisting the statewide Legal Aid community develop a coordinated response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including developing an early warning system for eviction cases using court data obtained from the Legal Services Corporation’s Civil Court Data Initiative. Steve is an alumnus of the Shriver Center’s Racial Justice Initiative (RJI) and worked with NLADA to develop racial justice practice standards prior to RJI. Before moving to Virginia in 2018, Steve worked for 30 years at Rhode Island Legal Services, pioneering the practice of Community Lawyering in a legal service setting. Steve is a graduate of Brandeis University and Boston University School of Law.

Sophia Hall

Deputy Litigation Director

Lawyers for Civil Rights

Sophia Hall joined Lawyers for Civil Rights in 2016. As an experienced litigator, Sophia handles a broad range of civil rights matters. Sophia actively represents people of color and immigrant women to protect their rights in the workplace and in the community. Most recently, she filed a landmark sexual harassment lawsuit against a prominent national restaurant chain expanding #MeToo to #YoTambien. She also successfully resolved a precedent-setting racial profiling matter creating a blueprint for police departments across the country to implement comprehensive implicit bias and search/seizure training. Sophia has a growing practice focused on dismantling barriers to diversity in public agencies.

Nicholas Espiritu

Deputy Director, Legal

National Immigration Law Center

Nicholas Espíritu, Deputy Director, Legal. Nicholas Espíritu focuses on promoting the rights of low-income immigrants through litigation and administrative advocacy.