American Civil Rights Project
The American Civil Rights Project knows that Americans’ civil rights are individual rights, equally held by all (regardless of whether those rights are understood as a positive enactment of centuries of ratifiers or as the common endowment of all children from nature and nature’s God). The ACR Project exists to protect and, where necessary, restore the primacy of all Americans’ shared civil rights. And we need your help!
Donate to Support Our Mission
The American Civil Rights Project, a public-interest law firm, seeks to assure that American law equally protects all Americans. The ACR Project needs your help to pay for its efforts seeking to accomplish that goal. The ACR Project is a tax-exempt public charity, under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, so all contributions to the ACR Project may be tax deductible under Section 170 of the Code.
Our Latest News
SHAREHOLDER ALERT: The ACR Project Investigating Lowe’s Discriminatory Promotion as Fiduciary Breach
On behalf of shareholders, the American Civil Rights Project, a national civil rights organization, is investigating allegations that the officers and directors of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) have breached their fiduciary duties.
Peterson Prize Nomination
The American Civil Rights Project has been named a nominee for the 2021 Gregor G. Peterson Prize in Venture Philanthopy. The Peterson is "[a]n annual prize for a trailblazing early stage [...]
Mistaken Heritage: How a Statutory Misreading Has Denied Congress’s Intended Beneficiaries Protection for Half a Century
When the Voting Rights Act came up for renewal of its pre-clearance mechanism for the second time in 1975, Congress didn't just update its coverage formula and leave the statute in place. It amended the core provisions of the VRA, in relevant part, by adding provisions protecting "language minorities," including "persons who are ... of Spanish heritage." What did that mean in 1975? That question yields a clear answer upon consideration of the historical context, the text itself (supported by contemporaneous usage), Congress's enacted legislative findings, and the relevant legislative history -- those whose native language is Spanish, a disadvantaged group that is not identical with all Hispanics. But the courts have never applied this clear answer. The population Congress sought to protect through the 1975 amendments still largely suffers from the same problems Congress enacted the 1975 amendments to address. Instead, a misreading of the language of the amendments has yielded irrelevant relief to other groups for generations. This piece originally ran in The Federalist Society Review, Vol. 22.