WHAT WE DO

Equitable Access to Public Accommodations

Increasing Access in Your Community

Everyone, regardless of race, gender, disability or language should be free to participate in civic activities, the economy, and the social life of their community. The Committee’s ceaseless fight against discrimination in access to the economy and public services works to ensure that everyone, regardless of race, disability or language can truly participate in society.
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Learn more about joining the fight for disability rights by contacting us at [email protected].

Public Policy
Reports
Case Study
Ending Discrimination at “America’s Diner”

In the early 1990s, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee exposed rampant discrimination against African American patrons at Denny’s restaurants. Black patrons were denied seating, required to pay first, or made to sit in the back of the restaurant.

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Case Study
Winning the Right to Communication for Deaf Prisoners

In a recent landmark decision, the Fourth Circuit held that the failure to provide a videophone to a prisoner who is deaf so that he can communicate with people outside of prison may violate his First Amendment rights.

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“Dr. King said, ‘the moral arc of the universe bends toward justice.’ But only when people pull it toward justice. The Washington Lawyers’ Committee is doing the pulling, and our city and the nation are better for it.”
Eric Holder, former Attorney General of the United States