Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is an organization of civil rights lawyers and advocates that claims to seek “racial equity and economic opportunity for all.” ¹

The Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights is one of eight independent local affiliates of the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. ²

Background

Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is an organization of civil rights lawyers and advocates that claims to seek “racial equity and economic opportunity for all.” ¹ It is one of eight independent local affiliates of the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. ²

The organization, founded in 1969, provides legal representation through partnerships with private lawyers and law firms. It collaborates with other organizations and advocacy groups to implement solutions it claims advances civil rights. ^{1 3}

The group argues that poverty and segregation are “firmly entrenched” in parts of Chicago. It has expanded beyond Chicago to reach throughout Illinois and Indiana. ³

The group says it advocates for ending “deeply entrenched systems of discrimination, racism, and economic oppression,” while supporting communities it claims are greatly impacted by poverty and racial disparity, including racial and ethnic groups, religious minorities, women, immigrants, LGBT people, and people with disabilities. ⁴

Public Policy

The organization’s three focus impact areas are education, voting rights and civic empowerment, and housing and equitable community development. ⁴

The group advocates for “education equity” through a system-wide transformation to assist marginalized communities. On voting, the group advocates for what it calls “equitable access for all citizens, especially those who have been historically disenfranchised or underrepresented, in the election process and civic decision making.” ^{5 4}

In 2024, the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee issued a report calling for reducing or restricting the use of solitary confinement in Illinois prisons, asserting it violates international human rights laws. The report asserted people are held in solitary confinement statewide for spans ranging from 10 days to more than 12 years. It argued that Black people, who account for 54.7 percent of those incarcerated in Illinois, make up 73.5 percent of the prisoners in solitary confinement. The report argued, “As practiced in Illinois, solitary confinement constitutes torture under international human rights law.” ⁶

Financials

Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law contributed $103,333 to Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education in 2023. ⁷

The Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $2.25 million to the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights from 2021 through 2023. The money was for Fair Housing Act enforcement initiatives. ²

The Joyce Foundation contributed $200,000 to the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in 2023. ⁵

The Amalgamated Charitable Foundation donated $200,000 to the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in 2023. ⁵

The Reva and David Logan Foundation gave $125,000 to the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in 2023. ⁷

Litigation

In 1970, the organization filed a federal class-action lawsuit challenging disparities in per-pupil expenditures between Chicago’s majority-Black and majority-white schools. The city board of education eventually equalized expenditures. ³

The organization represented the National Organization of Women in settling the case of N.O.W. v. City of Chicago after nine years. The case provided a boost in pay for hundreds of women janitors and clerks through salary upgrades, retroactive pension benefits, and back pay. ³

In 1984, the organization won a victory on voting and redistricting in the case of Ketchum v. Chicago City Council with a court ruling that local redistricting plans had been designed to dilute minority voting strength. ³

In 1995, the group also won a lawsuit claiming that Chicago Police Department employees were subjected to discrimination based on race, national origin, and sex. Hundreds of Chicago police officers received back pay and seniority rights. ³

In 2005, the organization won a $1.3 million award in hate crime cases on behalf of three Black men for suffering racially motivated attacks by four white men that included threats of hanging and beating. ³

In 2010, the group won a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lewis v. City of Chicago regarding standing to file claims against alleged discriminatory hiring practices for city firefighters. ³

The group sued on behalf of the Illinois State Conference of the NAACP challenging Illinois’s 2021 redistricting plan in East St. Louis, which the plaintiffs alleged was biased against Black voters. ³

In February 2025, the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee and the national Lawyers Committee represented Chicago Women in Trades in its lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s executive order restricting diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. CWIT anticipates the order could harm its ability to receive federal grants since it is about 70 percent Black and Latina women. ⁸

The Chicago Lawyers’ Committee represented Common Cause Indiana, League of Women Voters of Indiana, Hoosier Asian American Power, and NAACP Indiana State Conference in a lawsuit filed in April 2025 challenging Indiana’s citizenship checks for voting. The plaintiffs claim Indiana’s law violates federal law and makes naturalized Indiana citizens “second-class” voters. It also says the law relies on outdated data from Indiana’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles. ⁹

Leadership

David Shapiro is the executive director of the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a job he has held since January 2023. He has been a civil rights lawyer for more than 20 years. He received the Abner Mikva Award from the American Constitution Society Chicago Lawyer Chapter for “extraordinary contributions to progressive legal causes.” He has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Illinois Supreme Court, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and other appeals courts. He previously worked for the American Civil Liberties Union National Prison Project. In 2016, he was the founding director of the MacArthur Justice Center’s Supreme Court and Appellate Program. ¹⁰

Aneel Chablani is the vice president and legal director of the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, where she has worked since July 2017. Previously, he was the director of advocacy at Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE) in Toledo, Ohio. She also worked with the Capital Appeals Project in New Orleans representing inmates on Louisiana’s death row on direct appeals to the Louisiana Supreme Court. ¹⁰

Paroma Mukherjee is the vice president of advancement for the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. She was previously director of development at CARPLS Legal Aid. ¹⁰

Editha Paras is the vice president of finance and operations. She has had a nearly two-decade career in the financial services and banking industry, holding several successive positions in credit and relationship management. As a corporate banker, she managed a team overseeing a portfolio of clients with $7 billion. She was the chief program officer and Interim CEO for the Center on Halsted, the Midwest’s largest LGBT community center. ¹⁰

1. “Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.” Charity Navigator. Accessed April 4, 2025. https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/510189264
2. Stilson, Robert. “DOGE and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.” Capital Research Center. January 23, 2025. Accessed April 5, 2025. https://capitalresearch.org/article/doge-and-the-department-of-housing-and-urban-development/
3. “History.” Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. Accessed April 4, 2025. https://www.clccrul.org/history
4. “Mission.” Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. Accessed April 4, 2025. https://www.clccrul.org/mission
5. “Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.” Cause IQ. Accessed April 4, 2025.https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/chicago-lawyers-committee-for-civil-rights-under-l,510189264/
6. Washburn, Kaitlin. “Solitary confinement in Illinois prisons violates human rights, Chicago lawyers group says.” Chicago Sun-Times. April 28, 2024. Accessed April 4, 2025. https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/2024/04/28/solitary-confinement-illinois-prisons-human-rights-joseph-moore-chicago-lawyers-committee-civil-rights
7. “Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.” Cause IQ. Accessed April 4, 2025. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/chicago-lawyers-committee-for-civil-rights-under-l,510189264/
8. Press Release. “Civil Rights Groups Sue Trump Administration to Challenge Anti-DEI Executive Orders on Behalf of Nonprofit Serving Diverse Group of Women in the Skilled Trades.” February 26, 2025. Accessed April 4, 2025. https://www.lawyerscommittee.org/civil-rights-groups-sue-trump-administration-to-challenge-anti-dei-executive-orders-on-behalf-of-nonprofit-serving-diverse-group-of-women-in-the-skilled-trades/
9. Chapman, Lauren. “Voting rights groups coalition challenges citizenship crosscheck law, set to take effect July 1.” WVXU. (NPR Affilliate.) April 3, 2025. Accessed April 5, 2025. https://www.wvxu.org/2025-04-03/voting-rights-groups-coalition-challenges-citizenship-crosscheck-law-set-to-take-effect-july-1
10. “Staff.” Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. Accessed April 4, 2025. https://www.clccrul.org/staff