Politicization of civil rights prosecutions by Justice Dept. examined in House
 On the heels of its investigation of the firings of US Attorneys that has rocked the White House and the Justice Department in recent weeks, the House Judiciary Committee has received testimony on whether partisanship has affected the Justice Department's enforcement of civil rights laws during the Bush administration.
"The recent revelations concerning the firing of eight United States Attorneys reflect the alarming practices of the Bush Administration’s Department of Justice that first came to light in revelations about the Civil Rights Division," said a former Justice Department lawyer, Joe Rich, who testified today before the Subcomittee on on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.
Wan J. Kim, the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, presented a lengthy report detailing the activities of his section of the Justice Department.
But Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the chairman of the subcommittee, was not convinced. After the hearing, he warned of a "disturbing pattern" in the Bush administration's treatment of law enforcement.
"From the US Attorneys firings to the deeply disturbing revelations of this report on the Civil Rights Division, an extremely disturbing pattern is emerging from this Administration -- one of relentless political interference in the basic enforcement of our laws," he said in a statement sent to RAW STORY.
Nadler's concerns were driven by the statements of several witnesses who painted an alarming picture regarding civil rights enforcement during the Bush administration.
William L. Taylor, the Chairman of the Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights, shared his group's findings on the politicization of the Justice Department.
"As the Division approaches its 50th anniversary, it is in deep trouble because the Bush Administration has used it as a vessel for its own political objectives, often disregarding the law and sullying the group’s reputation for professionalism and integrity," he warned.
One former lawyer who served in the Civil Rights Division for 37 years, including in the Bush administration until 2005, described his view on what had transpired.
"Political appointees often assumed an attitude of hostility toward career staff," said Joseph D. Rich, now the Director of the Fair Housing Project of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
"The impact of this treatment on staff morale resulted in an alarming exodus of career attorneys -- the longtime backbone of the Division that had historically maintained the institutional knowledge of how to enforce our civil rights laws tracing back to the passage of our modern civil rights statutes," he added.
The impact of these changes in Civil Rights personnel at the Justice Department was sketched out by another witness.
Wade Henderson, President and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Human Rights, pointed to specific changes in the Justice Department's civil rights priorities.
For instance, the Justice Department has only tried 35 Title VII employment discrimination cases since 2001, in contrast to the 92 cases brought during the Clinton administration. The Housing and Civil Enforcement section's cases dropped from 53 in 2001 to 31 in 2006, he added, with a 60% dip in the number of race-related cases.
Henderson was particularly concerned with the shift away from using disparate impact claims in prosecuting allegations of housing discrimination.
"Disparate impact cases are crucial in the fight against housing discrimination," he explained. "Many rental, sales, insurance, and related policies are not discriminatory on their face...Even though there may not be any intent in the policy, it can have just as detrimental an effect on individuals and families trying to find housing."
Michael Slater, Deputy Director of Project Vote, who did not testify at the hearing, expressed concern in a statement sent to RAW STORY about the protection of the right to vote by the Justice Department.
"The improper firing of eight U.S. Attorneys by the Administration is only the latest in a series of actions by political appointees at the Department of Justice to suppress minority voter turnout, minimize minority representation and control the electoral process through legal threats and restrictive laws." he said.
Roger Clegg, President of the Center for Equal Opportunity, defended the Civil Rights Division's record during the Bush administration, and refused to agree that politicization of the Justice Department's legal work had caused shifting priorities. Instead, he argued that the legal terrain and social underpinnings of discrimination in America has changed.
"Even without differences in law-enforcement philosophy, the Division’s priorities will change over time. Congress will pass new laws. Lawbreaking will become more common in some areas, and less common in others," Clegg explained.
As an example, he argued that the problems facing African-Americans were not as severe as they once were.
"I’m not saying that antiblack discrimination has vanished; it hasn’t, and there will always be bigots, of all colors, in a free society. But anyone who thinks that antiblack discrimination is the same problem in 2007 that it was in 1964 is delusional," he noted.
The prepared statements presented to the subcommittee can be downloaded at its website.
|
