Never has our work been more vital than it is today. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the consequences of extreme racial inequity and the national reckoning with race in the wake of the death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others, has underscored the urgency of pursuing meaningful and lasting change. The Committee has undertaken significant work in response to these dual crises, including:

• On June 1, 2020, Black Lives Matter demonstrators were violently removed from Lafayette Park by federal and District of Columbia polices forces. Rubber bullets, tear gas, pepper spray, and batons caused significant injuries. We sued the federal government and federal officials for violent attacks on demonstrators protesting police violence in front of the White House.

• We sued regarding the conditions in the District’s halfway house, Hope Village. In response to COVID-19, more than 220 residents were locked in, sleeping in bunks two-and-a-half feet apart, eating in a common dining room, and lacking basic sanitation supplies. In response to our lawsuit, more than 200 prisoners were placed on home confinement and the facility was closed.

• Scores of patients and staff were sickened and more than 15 died at the District’s only public psychiatrist hospital, St. Elizabeth’s. These illnesses and death were the result of the failure of the District to implement Center for Disease Control guidance on infection control practices. We sued and secured an injunction requiring the hospital to take the necessary steps to stop the spread of the disease and, as a result, transmissions at the hospital have been reduced to nearly zero.

• We sued the Small Business Administration for regulations that exclude persons with a criminal record from receiving a Payroll Protection Program loan, thus harming thousands of minority owned small businesses. The Court found the rule arbitrary and capricious and it was changed.

• The racial achievement gap in the District, which was already profound, has grown worse with inadequate plans for remote learning. We are working closely to organize and support parent groups of color to have their voices heard in the decisions being made about their children’s education. Through our school partnership program, hundreds of children have received new devices contributed by law firms.

• We transitioned our workers’ rights walk-in clinics to telephone and video-conference and are providing advice and brief assistance to more than two dozen workers each week.

While this moment has changed neither our mission nor priorities – which were already deeply rooted in racial equity – our work has expanded to meet the demands of the time.