Statement on First Circuit’s Decision to Stay Injunction in U.S. Department of Education Lawsuit to Restore Office of Civil Rights Staff
Joint statement on the First Circuit’s decision to stay the injunction in the U.S. Department of Education lawsuit to restore Office of Civil Rights staff:
“We are disappointed in the First Circuit’s decision, which removes an important check on the government’s plan to gut the Office of Civil Rights while the case goes forward and leaves families across the country without relief for children who face discrimination in school. Although the First Circuit believed that the Supreme Court’s decision in McMahon v. New York required it to pause the district court’s order, it made clear that we could still prevail at the end of the case. The court reaffirmed that Congress created OCR ‘to serve a key role in furthering equal access to public education in the United States by ensuring the implementation of federal legislation like the Civil Rights Act as well as the promise of Brown v. Board of Education.’ We will keep fighting to ensure that OCR can fulfill that promise.”
– Sean Ouellette, Senior Attorney for Public Justice’s Students’ Civil Rights Project; Reid Skibell, Partner at Glenn Agre Bergman & Fuentes; Jonathan Friedman, Partner at Glenn Agre Bergman & Fuentes