Special Message from Executive Director Joanne Lin
This August in D.C., Back-to-School Time Has Become Life in a Police State
In ordinary times, late August is when families go back to school, with children donning new outfits and new backpacks and parents and teachers brimming with enthusiasm for the year ahead.
This August, however, feels decidedly different in the District of Columbia. In many D.C. neighborhoods, the normal jitters associated with starting school have been replaced with serious threats of impromptu traffic checkpoints, federal agents patrolling neighborhoods, and immigration surveillance and arrests taking place at schools. As a result, some parents are weighing whether it’s safe to send their children to school. Children are worried that their parents may be detained and won’t be home at the end of the school day. Principals and teachers are preparing to respond to potential immigration arrests on campus. Black students—many who walk or take public transit to school—are worried about being profiled and harassed by law enforcement, as described in this Washington Post article.
On Aug. 11 the President took unprecedented action—federalizing the D.C. police and deploying armed National Guard troops onto D.C. streets. The President declared D.C. a national crime emergency, even though the U.S. Justice Department’s own data shows that D.C. violent crime has sharply declined since 2023 and as of January 2025, had dropped to a 30-year-low (see my statement in response to the executive order below).
Over the last two weeks, the impact of the federal takeover of D.C. has been immediate and palpable. D.C. churches with large immigrant congregations have reported drops in attendance. According to NPR, mass attendance at a Catholic parish with a large Central American congregation was down about 20 percent—translating to 500 fewer people than normal.
All of us at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs are working around the clock to respond to the emergency cries of D.C. families. Our mission is to serve as the civil rights lawyers of D.C.’s many diverse communities. We stand ready to take legal action to protect our neighbors, defend D.C. autonomy, and safeguard civil rights protections for all.
Thank you for standing with us. We need your support—now more than ever.
Together for Justice,
Joanne Lin
Executive Director
Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs
There is no public safety emergency warranting the deployment of the National Guard on D.C. streets or the federalization of the city’s police force. The government’s own data shows violent crime has sharply declined since 2023 and, as of this past January, had dropped to a 30-year low.
We all want less crime. Enforcement theatrics will not accomplish that aim. But evidence-based approaches to public safety exist, and if they receive proper funding, they work. Yet, the Administration has severely cut programs employing these proven strategies.
It is inevitable that an increase in draconian policing will lead to police abuses. The Washington Lawyers’ Committee is watching and stands ready to protect the civil rights of D.C. residents.
Latino construction workers on a D.C. affordable housing project have reached a $700,000 settlement in their wage theft lawsuit against the Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. and Krick Plumbing & Heating.
Workers alleged they were misclassified and underpaid while building subsidized housing meant to serve the public.
Represented by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee and Murphy Anderson PLLC, they stood up for justice—and won. Read more here.
Major Step Forward in Meta Bias Lawsuit
A DC Superior Court denied Meta’s motion to dismiss and cleared the way for our case to proceed—challenging Meta’s racially biased advertising practices that disproportionately target Black users with ads for for-profit schools while steering white users to ads for nonprofit colleges.
We filed a national lawsuit on behalf of a coalition of churches and faith communities, challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s policy of conducting immigration arrests and surveillance at houses of worship, in violation of the First Amendment, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act.
The Equal Rights Center (ERC), represented by WLC and Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, has filed a lawsuit against Jefferson Apartment Group and JAG Management Company for widespread housing discrimination at luxury properties in the Shaw, NoMa, and Navy Yard areas.
ERC’s investigation found that multiple JAG-managed properties:
Impose unlawful minimum income requirements on voucher holders
In the case of one building, outright reject applicants with housing vouchers
Apply overly broad screening for applicants with past evictions or criminal records
These practices violate D.C. housing, consumer protection, and civil rights laws—laws designed to stop discrimination and open housing opportunities in our city.
As WLC’s Mirela Missova explained: “Screening practices that exclude voucher holders and people with certain criminal histories function as modern-day redlining. They reinforce segregation, deepen inequality, and block families from accessing opportunity. We’re proud to stand with ERC in this fight.”
D.C. Gang Database Highlighted on John Oliver Show
John Oliver! Last Week Tonight prominently featured our 2024 report, Targeted, Labeled, Criminalized, bringing national attention to D.C.’s secret gang database, a racially biased surveillance tool that targets Black and Latino communities without due process or oversight. Our report exposes the unconstitutional harm caused by this system and calls for real solutions rooted in justice—not racial profiling.
As John Oliver so aptly put it, “In D.C., their database at one point had almost 2,000 names on it, and only one individual was white. One in total. Do you know how few lists there are with only one white guy on them? It’s basically this database and the cast of Hamilton!”
After nearly 30 years behind bars, Dwain M. is finally home. Imprisoned at 17, Dwain used his time in prison to learn and grow—completing more than 70 educational and vocational programs, earning his GED, and taking college-level courses through the Georgetown Prison Scholars program.
This June, the D.C. Superior Court granted Dwain’s motion for relief under the Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act (IRAA), and just days later, he was reunited with his family.
As one cousin shared: “Seeing him get to experience the love and warm hugs of his family, especially his mother, was amazing today. There aren’t enough words to convey what you helped provide for my family in helping him return to us.”
The Washington Lawyers’ Committee is proud to have partnered with the Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP pro bono team—led by Allison Thornton Coffin and Sarah Tinaphong, with paralegal support from Shantell E. Rock, M.P.S., and Risa Slavin—and Kristin L. McGough (now with Winston & Strawn, formerly with WLC) to represent Dwain in his IRAA case.
Matt Rizzolo, a Ropes & Gray partner, works with companies across industries, developing and implementing creative strategies to enforce clients’ intellectual property rights, defend clients from infringement and unfair competition claims, and resolve complex business disputes. He litigates intellectual property-related cases in federal district courts as well as in international arbitrations and proceedings before Customs and Border Protection.
Under Matt’s leadership, a pro bono team at Ropes & Gray was honored at the 2025 Wiley Branton awards luncheon for outstanding achievement in securing a settlement for a child with diabetes who was denied educational services. Matt and his colleagues are also currently representing a D.C. child with asthma who was denied after-school programming.
“Over the past several years, we have had the good fortune of partnering with WLC to assist multiple parents and students in combating discrimination and other unlawful activity occurring in D.C. educational institutions. WLC doesn’t shy away from taking on the hard cases, and I love being able to litigate alongside WLC co-counsel in pro bono matters that truly make a difference.”
Samone Ijoma, an associate at Gilbert LLP, represents corporate and individual clients in complex civil litigation and insurance recovery matters. Prior to joining Gilbert, Samone worked at a national plaintiffs’ side employment litigation boutique where her practice focused primarily on individual and class employment discrimination claims.
Samone is a graduate of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.
An Associate Trustee for the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs (WLC), Samone is a member of the WLC pro bono litigation team that has sued the Department of Homeland Security to halt immigration arrests and surveillance at churches and houses of worship.
Rebecca Guterman is a housing justice attorney at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, where she focuses on removing systemic barriers to safe and stable housing in the Greater Washington, D.C. region. She represents tenants advocating for habitable housing conditions and pushing back against discriminatory practices.
Prior to joining WLC, Rebecca worked to safeguard the rights of people with disabilities in employment, public accommodations, and state and local government activities as an attorney in the Disability Rights Section of the U.S. Justice Department Civil Rights Division. As a legal fellow at Beyond Legal Aid in Chicago, she worked alongside immigrants’ rights organizers and community advocates to represent tenants facing eviction. She also previously served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Catharine Friend Easterly on the D.C. Court of Appeals. She is a graduate of New York University School of Law (J.D.) and the University of Chicago (B.A.).
Bruce Kahn served as rabbi at Temple Shalom (a Chevy Chase reform synagogue) for 21 years. He was also a founding board member and executive director of the Equal Rights Center (ERC), a civil rights organization focused on ending unlawful discrimination in housing, employment, education, and public accommodations in the DMV and nationwide. In 2011, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs (WLC) presented the Alfred McKenzie award to Rabbi Kahn for his community leadership in civil rights.
For decades, WLC and ERC have worked together, hand in glove, to defend and advance civil rights in the DMV and across the country. Recent achievements include:
A cutting-edge national lawsuit challenging Meta’s racially discriminatory advertising practices in higher education opportunities. Press release.
2025 housing discrimination lawsuits challenging Baltimore and D.C. properties that are not accessible to people with disabilities. Press release.
A 2024 settlement with a large D.C. rental property management company for allegedly unlawfully discriminating against tenant applicants based on criminal history and/or use of government-issued housing vouchers. Press release.
On July 23, our staff and interns enjoyed a fun outing to watch the Nats take on the Reds!
Coming Down the Pike
WLC Is Coming to Your Neighborhood!
House parties are taking place throughout the DMV. Our staff and board members will discuss our work protecting our immigrant neighbors, defending D.C. autonomy, and safeguarding civil rights for all.
Board Co-Chairs Joseph Davis (Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP) Avis Buchanan (retired) Board of Directors
The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs works to create legal, economic, and social equity for low-income marginalized communities in Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C., and across the country. We partner with individuals and communities facing discrimination and with the legal community to achieve justice. We bring strategic litigation to advance fair housing, disability rights, education equity, workers’ rights, immigrant justice, women’s rights, and criminal legal system reform.
