Media Center

Today’s conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd is a small step but we still have so far to go to address the underlying racism, police brutality, and lack of police accountability behind it. The conviction represents accountability but not justice. George’s Floyd’s murder must serve as one more catalyst to bring about systemic change and dismantle the white supremacy that drives deadly policing in the United States. In the wake of this conviction, so much more must still be done to bring about equal justice for Black Americans. Unchecked police brutality continues to claim the lives of far too many Black and Brown people and it must be ended.

Today, the Common Cause Education Fund is pleased to announce it is a recipient of Lumina Foundation’s racial equity funding program to expand the Student Action Alliance. The Student Action Alliance is a program for students of color that is led by a team of Black millennials. The program focuses on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and students of color at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). The two-year $200,000 grant, which is part of the Lumina Foundation’s $15 million effort to help eradicate systematic racism, will allow the Common Cause Education Fund to increase its staff capacity and expand our program to additional HBCUs and to other Minority Serving Institutions.

 A report released today by the University of Southern California (USC), the University of Minnesota and the University of Houston researchers makes the provocative recommendation that the California State Legislature should no longer have the power to strike finalists from the pool of applicants for California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission. The report was issued in the wake of a series of controversial strikes in the selection of the new slate of commissioners.

With a vote expected today, Common Cause is urging the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the “Washington, DC Admission Act” (HR 51) to give residents of the nation’s capital a full say in the governing of the nation. In a letter to every member of the House yesterday, Common Cause emphasized the legislation is about more than having voting Members of Congress, it is about the more than 700,000 Americans residing in Washington having a voice and being heard. 

Democracy reform, driven by the people, is on the march in states and municipalities across the nation where scores of pro-democracy reforms have been enacted. But democracy reform remains stalled in the U.S. Senate where the Republican majority ignores the will of the people. Sunday will mark one year since the U.S. House of Representatives passed its sweeping and transformative package of pro-democracy reforms in the For the People Act, or H.R. 1.

Today, Common Cause is launching a new effort to ensure voters’ right to know where presidential candidates stand on practical solutions to the challenges facing our democracy. The Our Democracy 2020 campaign will focus getting every presidential candidate in the Democratic and Republican primaries to respond to a 17-question survey and inject the high priority conversation on the need for democracy reform in the presidential campaign.