On the West Coast, a Legal Group Takes a Community-Driven Approach to Civil Rights
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area has been fighting for community-driven justice since 1968, using the power of the law to effect change at an institutional level.
“We are one of the oldest civil rights organizations on the West Coast,” said Monika Kalra Varma, the group’s executive director. “We were formed after MLK and RFK were killed as a way to get the private bar into the civil rights movement as a bridge between the movement and attorneys.”
A history of advocacy
Formed in 1968, the group is one of a number of public interest law firms that grew out of the formation of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in 1963 at the direction of then-President John F. Kennedy. That first firm, in Washington, D.C., is still active today. The other six affiliated groups are based in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Jackson, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
LCCRSF can claim a number of successful efforts over the past few years—from the release of hundreds of ICE detainees in California ICE facilities to pushing back against traffic court suspensions of licenses and the mistreatment of the homeless.
One of the reasons for its success is the community-based approach to effecting change, an outlier model for a law firm. By connecting with and to members of the community at large, the firm is able to take a different look at issues that centers all kinds of regional voices rather than just elite ones and opens the door to more comprehensive solutions to the issues at hand.
“It’s all about seeing the problem, saying how did we get here, and working to change things,” said Varma.
Varma, who was previously director of the Center for Human Rights at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (formerly the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights), said that LCCRSF aims to dismantle systems of oppression and racism with a community-driven legal approach that uses individual cases to build up power to take on institutional problems through impact litigation and advocacy tools.
Using litigation to make change
The group supports pro bono lawyers in the region and maintains a network of legal fellows who work with the organization to assist in litigation and advocacy. That approach to civil rights reform—centering litigation as a tactic to effect sweeping change—has drawn the support of private law firms eager to donate to the group and help its work continue.
Funding comes from a variety of sources, said Varma, a combination of private firms, grants and an annual dinner for law firms that typically brings in between $700,000 and $800,000 a year. LCCRSF also receives state bar funding and foundation support, as well as contracts with cities of Oakland and San Francisco.
“It’s a real combination,” said Varma. “The priority is to bring in as much funding as we can, and preferably unrestricted funding—money not tied to specific deliverables.”
In an era of uncertainty and economic and public health crisis, maneuverability allows for more effective responses to issues facing California’s marginalized communities. With funding largely released from strict parameters, LCCRSF can pivot more easily to handle the unpredictable current moment—as seen in September, when the group was among a number of firms that prevailed against the Trump administration and its proposed shortened schedule for the 2020 census.
“One of the things that is unique about us, in my opinion, is that we are community-driven and have been able to harness the support of private law firms,” said Varma. “And we’re always thinking about not just what we’re fighting, but how to re-envision systems.”