Public Interest Law Center, Judge Rejects Trump Administration Attempt to End Redlining Consent Decree in and Around Newark (Aug. 3, 2026)

The amici’s counsel announcing the July 31, 2026 order, dated August 3, 2026. Secondary to the order itself (us-v-lakeland-order-denying-termination-2026); primary for the amici organizations’ own statements. Quotations checked against the page.

Dena Mottola Jaborska, Executive Director, New Jersey Citizen Action Education Fund: “It was unconscionable that the Department of Justice even attempted to vacate its own consent order that helped provide Newark’s black and brown families equitable access to homeownership and other critical financial tools.”

Rachel Wentworth, Executive Director, Housing Equality Center of Pennsylvania: “For decades, banks of all kinds have used redlining to deny neighborhoods of color access to wealth and opportunity, and this ruling signals that lending discrimination will not be tolerated in our communities.”

Context as PILC states it: “The Department of Justice’s motion came in the wake of an April 2025 executive order by the Trump administration that directs federal agencies to roll back enforcement efforts based on ‘disparate impact’ liability.” This is PILC’s characterization; WR attributes it rather than asserting it independently.

Note on figures: PILC writes that “As of last year, approximately $4 million of the loan subsidy fund had yet to be disbursed.” The order itself (p. 7) says approximately $4.2 million. WR uses the order’s figure.