Greetings and happy new year! As we turn the page to 2026, please take a moment to view our video recapping our work and achievements in 2025. In a year of unprecedented assaults on civil rights and the rule of law, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs rose to meet the moment. We are fighting back in the courts and in our communities. And it’s making a difference. Thanks to you.
As we approach Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, let us not lose heart. As captured so eloquently by Dr. King in his “I Have a Dream” oration in 1963,
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair …
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal …”
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
Joanne Lin
Executive Director
Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs
Shenandoah Update: The Confederacy Goes on Trial, Along With Public Schools Named After Confederate Generals
WLC and Covington & Burling went to court in December 2025 on behalf of students, their families, and the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP, to prove that the Confederate school names at their public schools harmed Black students’ educational experience in Shenandoah County, Virginia.
In 2020, the Shenandoah County School Board voted to scrap two Confederate school names, Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby-Lee Elementary School, recognizing that the Confederate names served as a symbol that glorified slavery and segregation, and created an unequal education for Black students in the schools. Four years later, in 2024, the School Board reversed course and voted to rename the schools after Confederate generals. The Confederate names—chosen to honor generals who fought to perpetuate the enslavement of Black people, and chosen at a time when the state of Virginia was fighting to preserve a system of separate and unequal schools—are a legacy of hatred and discrimination. Reinstating the Confederate names sent a message to Black students, families, and community members that, even in 2024, they are not welcome or valued in Shenandoah County Schools.
In fall 2025, the judge ruled that the Confederate school names violate students’ First Amendment rights because the School Board cannot compel students to be carriers of the name Stonewall Jackson and the Confederate message that it represents. Find the press release here.
This case, tried in the historic courthouse in Harrisonburg that produced the first desegregation order in Virginia post-Brown v. Board of Education, continues the legacy of courageous individuals who put everything on the line to make this country closer to what it was intended to be. It also continues the NAACP’s long fight for racial equality in schools, and gave our clients an opportunity to tell their stories and to seek the justice that has been long denied in their community.
WLC will return to court on March 31, after post-trial briefing, to present closing arguments.
The New York Times was in the courtroom for the December 2025 trial. Read the full NYT article here.
D.C. Worker Challenges Firing Based on Decades-Old Conviction
In December 2025, WLC filed a lawsuit on behalf of a District of Columbia resident alleging he was unlawfully terminated from his job transporting patients to medical appointments after failing a criminal background check based on a misdemeanor conviction from more than two decades ago. The lawsuit argues that the employer’s zero-tolerance background screening policy violates the D.C. Human Rights Act and disproportionately impacts Black workers, who are overrepresented in the criminal legal system. Read our press release here and the news coverage here.
Supreme Court to Review Constitutional Birthright Citizenship
In December 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) granted certiorari on the merits in Barbara v. Trump, a case challenging the constitutionality of the Trump Administration’s Executive Order (EO) 14160. The EO purports to limit constitutional birthright citizenship to the children of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, representing a radical shift from the longstanding and undisputed understanding that the Fourteenth Amendment grants birthright citizenship to all persons born on U.S. soil, subject only to very narrow exceptions. That understanding was affirmed by SCOTUS more than a century ago in U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark and has since been codified by statute.
The Supreme Court’s review follows its June 2025 decision in Trump v. CASA, which held that lower-court judges exceeded their authority in issuing universal injunctions blocking the EO. CASA did not address the constitutionality of EO 14160 itself. Following that decision, plaintiffs in multiple birthright citizenship cases amended their complaints to assert class claims and successfully obtained new injunctions blocking the EO’s implementation. Two of those cases—Barbara v. Trump and Trump v. Washington—were appealed to SCOTUS in September 2025, with certiorari granted in Barbara.
In January 2025, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs (WLC), in conjunction with Asian Americans Advancing Justice—AAJC and Arnold & Porter, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to block implementation of EO 14160. Our lawsuit argues that the EO is an unconstitutional usurpation of the clear language of the Fourteenth Amendment, runs contrary to centuries of practice, and violates federal law. Following CASA, WLC filed an amended complaint adding class allegations and a motion for partial summary judgment in July 2025. In December 2025, the district court issued a stay in our case pending the Supreme Court’s forthcoming ruling in Barbara.
While WLC’s case is not before SCOTUS, we remain actively engaged in the fight to safeguard constitutional birthright citizenship. We remain resolved to preserve this core tenet of American identity, history, and culture.
Stephanie Nnadi, an associate with Covington & Burling, represents clients in high-profile investigations and hearings before Congress and federal agencies. She assists clients in compliance with federal and state campaign finance, election, and lobbying laws.
Additionally, Stephanie maintains an active pro bono practice focused on civil and human rights and government transparency. She is a member of the Covington pro bono team that has sued the Shenandoah County School Board (VA) for renaming two public schools after Confederate generals.
“The lawsuit brought by the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP and courageous families in Shenandoah County centers on the fundamental importance of confronting the full truth of our history and understanding its persisting impact on the present. Efforts to obscure or erase historical realities undermine our ability to build a more just and inclusive future. This lawsuit reflects a broader commitment to ensuring that our government institutions uphold principles of honesty, accountability, and equal dignity for all communities.”
Courtney Murray, senior associate at WilmerHale, provides strategic counsel to clients responding to high-profile corporate crises and advises on government investigations and congressional oversight. Courtney previously was a judicial clerk for the Honorable Judge Kenneth Karas of the U.S. Dist. Court (SDNY).
Courtney is a graduate of Columbia Law School (JD), Columbia University (MIA), and Duke University (BA, highest distinction).
An Associate Trustee for the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs (WLC), Courtney shares, “WLC is the preeminent organization fighting for communities that I hold dear to my heart, here in the greater Washington, D.C. region as well as all across the country. I’m proud to support WLC and look forward to continuing to do so for years to come.”
Amadou Kilkenny Diaw, a King & Spalding partner and WLC board member, focuses on patent and trade secret litigation matters for innovative technology companies. His clients span industries in the technology sector, including data analytics, AI, cloud computing, cryptocurrency, search engine, web accessibility, wireless networking, finance, consumer products, and apparel.
A graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, Amadou shares, “This is a return to an organization that has been a part of my journey for decades. During high school, I volunteered with WLC, answering phones and helping with client intake. My second stint began in 2009 when I returned to WLC as a staff attorney.
Now, as a board member, I’m thrilled to reengage with WLC’s mission at a time when civil rights, the defense of the rule of law, and the provision of community legal assistance are as important as ever. There is an extraordinary amount of work to be done, and I look forward to collaborating with WLC to help make an impact.”
Susan and Bill Taylor are longtime WLC donors and supporters. Bill served on the board of directors for several terms, including service on the executive committee.
A founding partner of Zuckerman Spaeder, Bill has litigated high-profile civil and criminal matters, often under intense media scrutiny. He has tried more than 60 cases to judgment.
A former chair of the ABA’s Criminal Justice Section, Bill has taught at the University of North Carolina Law School, George Washington University Law School, and Catholic University Law School.
A former public defender, Bill has maintained an active pro bono practice, including representation of death row inmates.
Gail Westover, an Eversheds Sutherland partner and WLC board member, passed away in December 2025 after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.
Gail was a generous supporter of the firm’s partnership with WLC, including participation in a major prison investigation.
I’m so grateful to have intersected with Gail, and I deeply appreciate her faithful service to WLC in her final years. May she rest in peace.
— Joanne Lin, Executive Director
Coming Down the Pike
So Many Ways to Stand With Us!
Your support powers the Washington Lawyers’ Committee’s work across the region—from living rooms to courtrooms.
Board Co-Chairs Joseph Davis (Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP) Avis Buchanan (retired)
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 DC, 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.
