ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL RECOGNIZES JUNETEENTH, CONTINUES TO DEFEND CIVIL RIGHTS FROM UNLAWFUL FEDERAL ACTIONS

ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL RECOGNIZES JUNETEENTH, CONTINUES TO DEFEND CIVIL RIGHTS FROM UNLAWFUL FEDERAL ACTIONS

June 18, 2026

Chicago - With Juneteenth approaching, Attorney General Kwame Raoul today highlighted his office's work to defend civil rights and lawful diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility efforts.

"I have worked hard to be a strong advocate for civil rights and to combat discrimination, as attorney general and throughout my career as a public servant," Raoul said. "Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom as well as a call to action to defend it. I'm proud of my office's ongoing efforts to further civil rights and to stand against attacks on them by the current administration. I remain committed to fighting for freedom and equity for the people of Illinois."

Raoul has long championed civil rights. His office's Civil Rights Bureau enforces state and federal civil rights laws prohibiting hate crimes and discrimination in Illinois. Earlier this year, his office won the first civil hate crime lawsuit filed by the Attorney General's office. As a result of Raoul's lawsuit, a Carroll County Circuit Court judge ordered two former Carroll County residents to pay more than $90,000 for their monthslong campaign of racial intimidation that included lynching an effigy of their Black neighbor outside of his home. Raoul also advocates for robust civil rights protections. His office worked with the Illinois Department of Human Rights to pass legislation to enhance civil rights protections for people in Illinois and provide important clarifications to the law.

The Attorney General's office implements a consent decree with the city of Chicago that is one of the nation's most expansive of its kind and is the result of a lawsuit brought by the Attorney General's office seeking to implement reforms recommended by the U.S. Department of Justice following a yearlong civil rights investigation. The consent decree includes provisions mandating the creation or improvement of systems to ensure officer accountability and transparency. Raoul has advocated for policies to make lasting, systemic change to policing in Illinois. Raoul's initiatives to improve the police certification and decertification process, allow the Attorney General's office to conduct pattern-and-practice investigations of civil rights violations by law enforcement and improve services for survivors of crimes were included in criminal justice reform legislation signed into law in 2021.

Since President Trump took office, his administration has sought to weaken many landmark federal civil rights laws, including the Fair Housing Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and close off access to opportunities for African Americans. The administration also has attempted to undermine states' civil rights laws. Attorney General Raoul's office has challenged such unlawful actions through litigation, often in partnership with other state attorneys general.

Earlier this month, Raoul led a coalition of attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the addition of new terms to federal contracts that - in the name of purging "diversity, equity and inclusion" from federal contracting - impose unclear and confusing requirements on contractors that may depart from antidiscrimination policies that contractors have followed for decades, and threaten severe penalties on federal contractors without adequate notice of what is prohibited.

In March, Raoul led a coalition of attorneys general in filing a lawsuit challenging unlawful actions by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), including threats to withhold funding from state and local fair housing enforcement agencies for abiding by state anti-discrimination laws and to impose illegal conditions on HUD funding. These actions threaten to weaken America's fair housing enforcement system and undermine states' ability to ensure equal access to housing.

Raoul has also successfully opposed the Trump administration's repeated threats to critical funding and programs intended to coerce the state, schools and service providers into abandoning lawful diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility provisions.

Raoul led a coalition of attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration in March over its unconstitutional and unlawful attempt to impose conditions targeting diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility on critical U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs, such as the school lunch program; Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC); the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP); and the Volunteer Fire Capacity Program. The programs provide basic, essential services for millions of Illinois' most vulnerable children, working families and older citizens. In June, Raoul won a preliminary injunction in the case, blocking the Trump administration's attempt to use this critical funding to force its anti-diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility agenda on states by imposing funding conditions that conflict with state and federal civil rights laws.

In April 2025, Raoul led a coalition of attorneys general in filing a lawsuit seeking to stop the U.S. Department of Education from withholding federal funding from state and local agencies that refuse to abandon lawful diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs and policies promoting equal access to education in K-12 classrooms across the nation.

The Trump administration's actions threatened about $1.4 billion in congressionally mandated financial support for Illinois schools. In February, Raoul and the coalition secured an agreement with the Trump administration to prevent it from withholding the funding.

Raoul's office has consistently opposed unlawful proposed federal rule changes that open the door to discrimination.

In collaboration with partner states, Raoul has opposed executive branch regulations that eliminate or weaken disparate impact liability as a means to counter discrimination. As part of a coalition of attorneys general, Raoul has submitted comment letters to the Consumer Financial Protection Board, the Department of Energy, and HUD when those agencies proposed new regulations. And for the many federal agencies that are improperly bypassing public participation, Raoul and the coalition are objecting every time an agency eliminates disparate impact by fiat, defending both the legality and the importance of disparate impact as an antidiscrimination tool.

Raoul's office also files amicus briefs in support of other cases challenging unlawful actions by the administration that threaten civil rights or target lawful diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs.

In 2025, Raoul led coalitions of attorneys general in filing amicus briefs supporting separate legal challenges by Chicago Women in Trades and the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education to two of President Trump's executive orders targeting diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility initiatives.

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (SFFA), Raoul issued legal guidance for schools and businesses, affirming the viability and importance of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility policies and practices in creating and maintaining legally compliant and thriving workplaces and education environments.

Raoul has led outreach efforts to Fortune 500 companies and the American Bar Association, affirming the strides toward diversity they have made, clarifying that these efforts are legal and encouraging them to continue. Raoul also led a coalition of attorneys general in sending a letter to Walmart voicing concerns about the company's announcement of its plans to step away from its commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion. He has repeatedly spoken out about the benefits of such programs, and has condemned racist and unfounded attacks on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.