With concern running high over the intentions of the U.S. Justice Department under President Donald Trump to enforce the nation’s civil rights laws and implement legal protections, civil rights leaders are meeting with Attorney General Jeff Sessions tomorrow.
A delegation that will include Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, National Urban League CEO Marc Morial, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights CEO Wade Henderson, the president of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation Melanie Campbell, Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights under the Law and Sherilynn Ifill, president and Director-Counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, will meet with Sessions at the Justice Department.
At stake are a number of issues, including the role of the Department of Justice in police brutality cases, the imposition of a Voter ID law in Texas and other efforts to disfranchise Black voters, the protection of the Voting Rights Act and the department’s role in dismantling segregation in public education.