SUCCESS: Department of Education Office for Civil Rights States George Washington University May Have Discriminated Based on Palestinian National Origin

SUCCESS: Department of Education Office for Civil Rights States George Washington University May Have Discriminated Based on Palestinian National Origin

On January 17th, the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights and George Washington University (GW) entered into a resolution agreement ending a years-long investigation into possible Title VI violations at the University.

The agreement, which resolved two Title VI complaints—one filed on behalf of Palestinian students by Palestine Legal alleging anti-Palestinian discrimination, and another filed by Israel advocacy group StandWithUs alleging antisemitism—states that GW “may have treated [a pro-Palestine student] differently on the basis of shared ancestry[.]”

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Civil Rights Groups, Emory SJP Address Federal Recognition of Hostile Environment Concerns At Emory University

Civil Rights Groups, Emory SJP Address Federal Recognition of Hostile Environment Concerns At Emory University

Emory Students for Justice in Palestine (ESJP), the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Georgia), and Palestine Legal today addressed the announcement and resolution by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The resolution sets out several substantive remedial measures Emory University must take after OCR identified important Title VI compliance concerns at the University for alleged harassment of students based on their Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and Black identities.

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Coalition Legal Letter to Licensing Bodies: Penalizing Aspiring Attorneys for Opposing Genocide Violates Anti-Discrimination Laws and Constitutional Protections

Coalition Legal Letter to Licensing Bodies: Penalizing Aspiring Attorneys for Opposing Genocide Violates Anti-Discrimination Laws and Constitutional Protections

Palestine Legal and Unlock the Bar sent a letter to the 56 attorney license-granting jurisdictions in the United States, warning that penalizing aspiring attorneys for their advocacy in support of Palestinian rights violates anti-discrimination laws and First Amendment guarantees.

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Civil Rights Orgs Warn Pomona College Unprecedented Suspensions of Students Are Unlawful, ‘Punishes the Act of Protest Itself’

Civil Rights Orgs Warn Pomona College Unprecedented  Suspensions of Students Are Unlawful, ‘Punishes the Act of Protest Itself’

Five legal organizations including Palestine Legal, the Asian Law Caucus, the Center for Protest Law and Litigation, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, and the National Lawyers Guild of Los Angeles sent a letter to Pomona College today warning the school that its unprecedented suspensions of a group of students for the remaining 2024-2025 academic year without due process violated First Amendment principles and California law. 

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Federal Court Grants University of Maryland Students for Justice in Palestine’s Preliminary Junction

Federal Court Grants University of Maryland Students for Justice in Palestine’s Preliminary Junction

Today, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland granted the University of Maryland Students for Justice in Palestine’s (UMD SJP) request for a preliminary injunction to allow the group to host an interfaith vigil on October 7, 2024.

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UChicago Students File Civil Rights Complaint After Disciplinary Charges, Arrests, and UCPD Surveillance

UChicago Students File Civil Rights Complaint After Disciplinary Charges, Arrests, and UCPD Surveillance

Palestine Legal today announced the filing of a federal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) demanding an immediate investigation into the nearly year-long, hostile environment of anti-Palestinian racism at the University of Chicago, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

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UW-Madison Opens Illegal and Discriminatory Student Disciplinary Proceedings Months After Last Spring’s Encampments

UW-Madison Opens Illegal and Discriminatory Student Disciplinary Proceedings Months After Last Spring’s Encampments

Palestine Legal has sent a letter to the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) demanding they terminate a new round of illegal and discriminatory charges brought against students relating to last spring’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment. 

Palestine Legal is representing two students, Dahlia Saba and Vignesh Ramachandran, who are facing disciplinary charges for allegedly “planning and carrying out an encampment on university lands.”

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