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Deborah J. Vagins
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Deborah J. Vagins is the Senior Legislative Counsel on civil rights issues for the American Civil Liberties Union Washington Legislative Office. In this position, Vagins leads the office's civil rights advocacy efforts and develops pro-active strategies on pending federal legislation and executive branch actions concerning racial justice, employment discrimination, pay equity, voting rights, and disability rights. She works closely with key congressional staff and coalition partners to develop national campaigns advancing a federal civil rights agenda.


Recently, she has authored numerous articles and reports including: Liberty and Economic Justice for All; Pay Equity: Restoration and Improvement; Promises to Keep: The Impact of the Voting Rights Act in 2006; The VRA Today: Why Americans Still Need the Voting Rights Act; Working in the Shadows: Ending Employment Discrimination for LGBT Americans, and Cracks in the System: Twenty Years of an Unjust Federal Crack Cocaine Law. Her reports have inspired town hall meetings across the country, and Vagins’ words and work have been featured by Washington Post, AP, CQ, NPR, Huffington Post, Daily Kos, and others.


Prior to joining the ACLU in 2005, Vagins served as the acting deputy general counsel and senior attorney-advisor to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The general counsel's office provided recommendations to the White House, Congress and federal agencies to improve national civil rights policies and preserve constitutional protections. Vagins and the staff conducted investigations and briefings to develop national policies regarding discrimination on the basis of race, gender, national origin, disability, and religion. She also researched and drafted comprehensive analyses on voting rights, Title VI enforcement, environmental justice, racial disparities in education, and affirmative action.


Before working at the commission, Vagins was an associate in the employment discrimination and civil rights practice group at Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, where she litigated high-profile nationwide civil rights class actions. She represented more than 1.5 million women from Wal-Mart in the largest Title VII employment discrimination lass action in history. Prior to that, Vagins was an associate at Sidley & Austin in the civil, criminal and constitutional litigation practice group and founded the firm’s Committee for the Recruitment and Retention of Women. Earlier Vagins worked at EMILY’s List and clerked at the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project.


Vagins graduated magna cum laude from the Washington College of Law at American University, where she was an editor of the law review, and the recipient of the Gillett-Mussey scholarship for her contributions in the field of gender equity. She received her B.A. with distinction from Swarthmore College.

Blog Entries by Deborah J. Vagins

18 More Cents... in 50 Years

(5) Comments | Posted April 9, 2013 | 11:43 AM

Over the last five decades, women have broken many barriers in education, business and government. We need look no further than Congress to see the progress women have made: In 1963, Congress had only 14 women. In contrast, the new 113th Congress seated 97 women, the highest representation...

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Shelby, ITCA, and Congress' Role in Protecting Voting Rights

(0) Comments | Posted March 21, 2013 | 5:14 PM

Following a wave of voter suppression laws over the last few years, Texas passed a restrictive voter identification law, which unfairly burdened communities of color all across the state. The new law was rejected as discriminatory under the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.

In Arizona,...

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Who Really Won the Election? Democracy

(33) Comments | Posted November 9, 2012 | 8:43 AM

Who was the real winner on Tuesday? Democracy.

Overcoming a wave of voter suppression laws, misinformation, long lines, longer lies and Hurricane Sandy, millions of people still had their voices heard and ensured their votes counted.

Many of the voter suppression laws took different forms -- voter ID...

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On the First Anniversary of Wal-Mart v. Dukes: Stand Up or Be Trampled

(1) Comments | Posted June 20, 2012 | 12:05 PM

Over a decade ago, I had the great honor to be part of a team representing Betty Dukes, an employee at Wal-Mart who had received unfair treatment at her job and had decided to do something about it. Betty soon became the face of a large class of women who...

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The Paycheck Fairness Act: It's Time to Stop the Catch 22

(0) Comments | Posted June 4, 2012 | 12:48 PM

This post was co-written by Georgeanne Usova, ACLU Washington Legislative Office

Last week, Terri Kelly testified before the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee about pay discrimination. In her nine year career as a pharmaceutical sales rep, Kelly was extremely successful—one of the best-performing reps in the nation. But despite...

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The State of Women's Rights: 2012 or 1963?

(28) Comments | Posted May 2, 2012 | 11:31 AM

Discussion of women's rights is back on the front pages these days. But it has been a curious discussion. Instead of talking about advancing new rights, as women are more likely than ever to be their families' breadwinners, in management positions in the workforce and hold...

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We Can't Wait for Fair Pay

(2) Comments | Posted April 16, 2012 | 12:32 PM

Would you know if the person sitting next to you at work was being paid significantly more than you to do the same job? If you suspected that might be the case, would you know what to do about it? You might start by simply asking the question. Unfortunately, there's...

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Counting On Us: Release of New Civil Rights Data Is the First Step in Helping Our Kids

(6) Comments | Posted March 9, 2012 | 11:16 AM

Every day, students in public schools across the country are facing harsh disciplinary measures that may have dire consequences for the rest of their lives.

That was confirmed this week when the Department of Education released Part Two of its 2009-2010 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), which...

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The Democracy Restoration Act: Creating a Broader and More Just Base of Voter Participation

(50) Comments | Posted December 16, 2011 | 3:14 PM

Jessica Chiappone just wants to set an example for her two young sons by helping troubled families like the one she grew up in.

As a young Florida resident, she was convicted of a nonviolent drug offense. But since serving her prison sentence, she has turned her life...

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Protecting the Right to Vote: A Moral Imperative

(37) Comments | Posted December 14, 2011 | 6:12 PM

“[T]he vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.” — President Lyndon Baines Johnson at the signing of the Voting Rights Act, Aug. 6, 1965

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Making School a Safe Place for All Students

(14) Comments | Posted September 27, 2011 | 3:35 PM

In 19 states across the country, corporal punishment in schools is still legal. Sadly, in many states, children are better protected against physical discipline in detention facilities than they are in their own classrooms. That fact is a startling reminder that for the many children subjected to corporal punishment...

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Turning a Blind Eye: The Human Rights Crisis in Puerto Rico

(0) Comments | Posted July 19, 2011 | 3:54 PM

Today, there are American citizens who are being assaulted by police during peaceful protests, but you likely have heard very little about it. The Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD), the second largest police department in the country, is out of control, with a broken and inadequate system for investigating, or...

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A Crisis Averted?

(8) Comments | Posted April 12, 2011 | 6:46 PM

Today, April 12, 2011, is Equal Pay Day – the day into 2011 that a woman has to work, on average, to make the same as a man did in just 2010 alone. As I write on this year’s Equal Pay Day, I cannot help but reflect on the fact...

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A Sad Day for Equal Pay, but Not the End

(6) Comments | Posted November 19, 2010 | 12:32 PM

In a disappointing stand against women's equality, on Wednesday the Senate voted 58-41 against cloture for the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 3772), stopping the bill from moving forward and effectively denying women the necessary legal tools to fight for equal pay. Although a majority of the Senate supported...

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Waiting for Equality

(9) Comments | Posted August 26, 2010 | 1:45 PM

In the winter of 1916–1917, suffragists took their ongoing battle to our nation’s capital, pressing the newly re-elected President Woodrow Wilson to grant women the most fundamental of all American rights — the right to vote. Picketing outside of the White House, they asked President Wilson, almost a century ago:...

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An Arcane, Destructive -- and Still Legal -- Practice

(1) Comments | Posted June 30, 2010 | 4:55 PM

On June 29, 2010, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) introduced the "Ending Corporal Punishment in Schools Act," H.R. 5628. This bill would ban the use of corporal punishment in public schools and private schools that serve students receiving federal services. It is a huge step forward in the fight...

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Make Equal Pay Day Obsolete

(5) Comments | Posted April 20, 2010 | 2:55 PM

Today, Equal Pay Day, marks how far women, on average, have to work into 2010 to be paid the same as men were paid in 2009. In other words, women have to work almost 16 months — nearly four months longer than men do — to make the same...

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A Milestone With Miles To Go

(0) Comments | Posted January 29, 2010 | 12:20 PM

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the first bill signed into law by President Obama. This critical law fixed a 2007 Supreme Court decision that sharply limited workers' opportunities to challenge wage discrimination, and undermined civil rights law that had...

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Teach (and Treat) Our Children Well

(3) Comments | Posted December 3, 2009 | 12:15 PM

As a society, we adhere to the basic premise that, in the proper setting, children will learn what they are taught. And it follows that in learning to become positive and involved adults, children need to be encouraged and supported in their school environments.

We should all be alarmed,...

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It's Time for Congress to Help Bring LGBT Employees Out of the Shadows at Work

(11) Comments | Posted September 19, 2007 | 7:01 PM

Alex Gorinsky was a well-regarded account manager for five years at a Texas finance leasing firm, consistently getting positive performance reviews and merit pay raises, until he brought Jon, his partner of three years, to the 2006 company Christmas party. Gorinsky, 34, was laid off three weeks later.

The...

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