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Deborah Archer

@deborahnarcher.bsky.social
1.6K followers 171 following 183 posts

Professor @NYU Law. President @aclu. Social and racial justice advocate. Author, Dividing Lines: How Transportation Infrastructure Reinforces Racial Inequality

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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The Civil Rights Act of 1960 gave the federal gov’t power to inspect voting records when states were using control over voter registration to deny Black citizens the vote. Today, DOJ is invoking that law to demand states’ unredacted voter databases. washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/09/22/t...
washingtonstatestandard.com
Trump administration’s WA voter roll lawsuit dismissed • Washington State Standard
SEATTLE — A federal judge in Seattle on Tuesday tossed the Trump administration’s lawsuit against Washington seeking the state’s voter rolls, in line with many rulings across the country. This marks t...
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
It is an honor to join CAC @myconstitution.bsky.social this year to support their work and engage with them on mine.
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
I wrote a piece for MS NOW that is part of “America in the balance: The fight for our history and future,” a special series that explores where we are as a nation as we commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. www.ms.now/opinion/amer...
ms.now
America’s 250th year was horrible for civil rights. But there’s a path forward.
The civil rights framework we built to enforce our founding document’s promise of liberty continues to fall short.
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Juneteenth commemorates emancipation. But jubilee demands something more: a society where access, opportunity, and power are built to last — not declared and then dismantled. What would it mean to finally build that?
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
I’m so glad to see this out in print! As the infrastructure of civil rights is being destroyed, we have to be clear about what we are losing and what we will need to reimagine and rebuild.
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Please join me and the amazing Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Mia Bay, and Rosemary Ndubuizu for a virtual discussion of our books and the fight to live and move freely. May 7th at as part of the Schomburg's Conversations in Black Freedom Studies series. www.eventbrite.com/e/unequal-ho...
eventbrite.com
Unequal Housing and Transportation: The Fight to Live and Move Freely
CBFS: Scholars investigate and discuss the relationship between race and mobility in America. This is an online event program.
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
This country’s deep retreat away from a multiracial democracy continues. Another hard day for voting rights and our democracy, but the fight continues.
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
In my new essay forthcoming in the Stanford Law Review, Joe Schottenfeld and I examine what civil rights administration actually does. Our argument: the collapse of administrative civil rights enforcement is not just political. It is a structural. Civil Rights Administration: lnkd.in/eZywc_xe
lnkd.in
Civil Rights Administration
Civil rights enforcement is often imagined as the work of lawyers in court. But over the course of the twentieth century, the administrative state quietly emerg
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
I write something for Time magazine about how the attempt to dismantle birthright citizenship would hurt all of us.
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
The language of the 14th Amendment is clear. If you are born on this soil, you are a citizen. The Trump administration’s attack on birthright citizenship is an unconstitutional attack on who gets to belong in America. That question has never been neutral. @aclu.org youtu.be/SL7f_iLvia4?...
youtu.be
ACLU President Talks Defending Birthright Citizenship | Making Sense | ACLU
YouTube video by ACLU
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
The language of the 14th Amendment is clear. If you are born on this soil, you are a citizen. The Trump administration’s attack on birthright citizenship is an unconstitutional attack on who gets to belong in America. That question has never been neutral. @aclu.org youtu.be/SL7f_iLvia4?...
youtu.be
ACLU President Talks Defending Birthright Citizenship | Making Sense | ACLU
YouTube video by ACLU
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
I am so proud of the advocacy and public education work the ACLU is doing to protect birthright citizenship. m.youtube.com/watch?v=aNe4...
m.youtube.com
The Beat featuring Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. | ACLU
YouTube video by ACLU
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
I have spent March at @rockefellerfdn.bsky.social ‘s amazing facility in Italy thinking about how to shift civil rights law & advocacy to better address the structural and generational injustices experienced by communities of color, as communities, and better address and prevent the collective harm.
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
The ways we apply and interpret civil rights laws rarely speak to community. When predatory infrastructure or decades of compounded neglect destroy a community of color, leaving people in a hollowed-out shell of what they built together, where is their collective remedy?
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
As we reimand rebuild our infrastructure , equity must be a central consideration. www.newsweek.com/aclu-preside...
newsweek.com
ACLU President: Race Must Be A Factor In Looming Highway Bill Negotiations | Opinion
Race-neutral transportation and housing policies built an environment in which segregation was embedded in concrete and asphalt.
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Excited to have this piece out and contributing to the conversation about how we build and defend happy, healthy, and equitable communities.
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UChicago Law Review @uchilrev.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Volume 92.8 is now live, featuring pieces by @sonofdavid.bsky.social; @deborahnarcher.bsky.social & Joseph R. Schottenfeld; Katrina T. Goto; Luke Henkel; Brandon Stras; and David Wang. You can find them all here: lawreview.uchicago.edu.
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UChicago Law Review @uchilrev.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
@deborahnarcher.bsky.social & Joseph R. Schottenfeld draw on public nuisance and common law torts to propose a community equity framework that recognizes the collective harms imposed on Black communities by inequitable public infrastructure and development.
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ACLU @aclu.org · 29/08/2025
Our government's response to Hurricane Katrina was a failure of civil rights and infrastructure policy as Black communities were left unprotected and forgotten. As extreme weather events get more common, elected officials must root out the racial justice failures that enabled Katrina’s destruction.
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ACLU @aclu.org · 29/08/2025
On the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devastation, ACLU President Deborah Archer argues for Rolling Stone that we must learn the lesson of investing in Black communities before it’s too late.
rollingstone.com
The Greatest Tragedy of Hurricane Katrina Was Man-Made
Hurricane Katrina reminds us how racial justice and infrastructure are intertwined, ACLU President Deborah N. Archer writes 20 years after the storm.
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
20 years after Katrina, the message remains clear — infrastructure is a civil right. Katrina exposed a structural failure: the erosion of infrastructure in Black communities reflected a deeper neglect of Black lives. www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
rollingstone.com
The Greatest Tragedy of Hurricane Katrina Was Man-Made
Hurricane Katrina reminds us how racial justice and infrastructure are intertwined, ACLU President Deborah N. Archer writes 20 years after the storm.
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 20/07/2025
Thanks to the New York Law Journal for the great review of Dividing Lines! www.law.com/newyorklawjo...
law.com
'Predatory Transportation Projects': Review of Deborah Archer's 'Dividing Lines' | Law.com
Chris Dunn reviews New York University School of Law professor Deborah Archer's book America's long history of building transportation infrastructure that tore apart communities of color.
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
Thanks to @publisherswkly.bsky.social for their review of Dividing Lines! www.publishersweekly.com/9781324092131
publishersweekly.com
Dividing Lines: How Transportation Infrastructure Reinforces Racial Inequality by Deborah N Archer
Civil rights lawyer Archer debuts with a searing look at how government decisions about transportation, including where to locat...
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
Is Brooklyn in the house?! I hope so. Join James Forman Jr. and me for a conversation about transportation injustice, systemic racism, and how we can move forward to build back better for everyone. June 9th at 6:30 pm - www.bklynlibrary.org/calendar/cbh...
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
Chicago faces a $770 million transit budget shortfall, threatening severe cuts that would disproportionately impact low-income communities. These cuts could devastate mobility and economic prospects for folks who rely heavily on public transportation. apnews.com/article/chic...
apnews.com
Chicago risks severe cuts to transit. Its poorest suburbs could be hit even harder
The Chicago area is facing the prospect of bleak service cuts to public transit if Illinois legislators adjourn this weekend without plugging a $770 million hole in the transportation budget.
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
I appreciate Sarah Swan and @jotwell.bsky.social ‘s engagement with my recent co-authored article! torts.jotwell.com/building-a-c...
torts.jotwell.com
Building a Community Equity Framework from the Tort of Public Nuisance - Torts
Deborah N. Archer & Joseph Schottenfeld, Defending Home: Toward a Theory of Community Equity, __ U. Chi. L. Rev. __ (forthcoming, 2025), available at SSRN (Sept. 30, 2024).Sarah SwanFor communities su...
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
I shared some thoughts with Time magazine on this administration’s threats to transportation justice. time.com/7287364/trum...
time.com
Trump’s Infrastructure Funding Pause Impacts More than Highways
America’s infrastructure is crumbling beneath our feet. We must reorient our thinking, writes Deborah N. Archer.
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
I’m excited to join the lineup for SXSW London. If you plan to be there, join me to talk about the current challenges to civil rights and civil liberties. @sxsw.com
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
We have to keep fighting back. It’s working! www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/u...
nytimes.com
U.S. Restores Legal Status for Many International Students, but Warns of Removals to Come
Immigration officials signaled that the Trump administration would continue to pursue efforts to terminate the legal status of the students, despite a wave of legal challenges.
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
It was such a pleasure to join you!
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Incredible victory. Proud of the ACLU folks who fought for this win! @aclu.org www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/u...
nytimes.com
Judge Limits Trump’s Ability to Withhold School Funds Over D.E.I.
The administration was seeking to cut off money from public schools that allowed certain diversity and equity programs.
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Melissa Murray @profmmurray.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Me & my @nyulaw.bsky.social colleague & work wife, @deborahnarcher.bsky.social, preparing to discuss her amazing book, Dividing Lines, @ the NY Historical Society. Predictably, Deborah, like her book, was absolutely fabulous! Also, check out the @strictscrutiny.bsky.social interview with Deborah!
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
It’s publication day! And I was excited to kick it off with @morningjoe-msnbc.bsky.social ! #DividingLines
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
It was so much fun to join the podcast to chat with the amazing @profmmurray.bsky.social and @leahlitman.bsky.social about my book Dividing Lines!
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ACLU @aclu.org · 14/04/2025
For decades, highways and roads have been used to divide communities. ACLU president @deborahnarcher.bsky.social joins our host W. Kamau Bell on At Liberty to discuss her new book Dividing Lines which focuses on the role infrastructure plays in reinforcing racial inequality.
aclu.org
Know Your Right To Transportation Justice with Deborah Archer and Sister Helen Jones | American Civil Liberties Union
You know that phrase “born on the wrong side of the tracks”? Well, there’s something to it: highways, roads, and sidewalks across America have, for decades, been racial and economic dividers. These th...
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
This book is about more than roads. It’s about the choices we’ve made — and the communities we’ve harmed— in the name of progress. It’s about what happens when infrastructure becomes a tool of oppression. And it’s about what we can do to change it. Tuesday, April 15th. wwnorton.com/books/978132...
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Strict Scrutiny Podcast @strictscrutiny.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Check out this webinar (April 15) with @deborahnarcher.bsky.social about her forthcoming book DIVIDING LINES (on transportation (in)justice)! We talk with Deborah about her book on our next episode - you won't want to miss that or this webinar!
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W. W. Norton & Company @wwnorton.com · 11/04/2025
NYU School of Law Meltzer Center is hosting a webinar with @deborahnarcher.bsky.social (ACLU President, NYU legal scholar, and author of DIVIDING LINES) on April 15. wwnorton.com/books/dividi... Register: nyu.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
nyu.zoom.us
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Transportation Justice: How Infrastructure Can Divide and Unite. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
The U.S. economy depends on transportation infrastructure—roads, highways, airports, subways—to keep it afloat. And for many years, Americans have been frustrated by the nation’s dangerous potholes, a...
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
It’s book release month!! I’m so excited. Get your copy here: wwnorton.com/books/978132...
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
The administration undid a racial discrimination settlement with a mortgage lender that called a Black neighborhood a jungle. Ushering in the return of redlining. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/26/b...
nytimes.com
Consumer Bureau Seeks to Undo Settlement and Repay Mortgage Lender
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to return a $105,000 penalty it collected last fall when it resolved a discrimination lawsuit.
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
On the 60th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday. www.al.com/politics/202...
al.com
Sixty years after ‘Bloody Sunday’ the fight for democracy continues : op-ed
The Bloody Sunday anniversary is not just about commemorating history. It is about ensuring that we do not repeat it.
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
A victory for transgender people, their families, and civil rights! www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-...
nbcnews.com
Judge blocks Trump order threatening funding for institutions that provide gender-affirming care for minors
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of multiple transgender youths and their families, who alleged that the order interrupted their care.
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Yuvraj Joshi @yuvrajjoshi.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
In “Infrastructure Equality,” Professor @deborahnarcher.bsky.social and I explore how racial inequality in the U.S. is deeply tied to unequal access to infrastructure—and how the legal system can help address it. Forthcoming in the Northwestern University Law Review papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Abstract to Infrastructure Equality, available at link in post
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
I am excited to share that Yuvraj Joshi’s and my new article entitled “Infrastructure Equality” will be published in the Northwestern University Law Review. You can read a draft on SSRN. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
INFRASTRUCTURE EQUALITY
The United States' racialized geographies have left communities of color with systematically inferior essential infrastructure that perpetuates their social and
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
The U.S. Department of Education decided to unfreeze investigations of discrimination complaints at schools across the country, but not for complaints raising race or gender discrimination. Therefore, thousands of race and gender complaints “will continue to sit idle” while children suffer.
propublica.org
Education Department “Lifting the Pause” on Some Civil Rights Probes, but Not for Race or Gender Cases
A memo to the department’s Office for Civil Rights reveals that the agency will allow “only disability-based discrimination” cases to proceed. Thousands of outstanding complaints will continue to sit ...
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
A few thoughts as we close out Black History Month.
aclu.org
The Infrastructure of Racial Justice Is Under Attack. We Must Fight for It | ACLU
The laws, systems, and structures that support racial equity in America will stand strong in the face of inordinate pressure, but only if we band together to protect this vital civil rights infrastruc...
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Racist and lawless is a dangerous combination.
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
It is absolutely disgusting. The “Dear Colleague “ letter from the Department of Education makes clear that their goal is resegregation. And they are trying to remove every attempt to make students of color feel safe and to be safe. I’m sick to my stomach.
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
I’m so proud of the work the ACLU has done over the past few weeks.
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Deborah Archer @deborahnarcher.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Today’s abuse of power: Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions against people who assist the International Criminal Court (ICC) in investigating war crimes and human rights violations. This will harm accountability and violate the First Amendment. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
washingtonpost.com
Trump signs order imposing sanctions on International Criminal Court over investigations of Israel
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court over investigations of Israel
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