United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division

United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division

Agency overview
Formed	December 9, 1957
Jurisdiction	United States government agency
Headquarters	950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, D.C.
Annual budget	$162 million USD (2015)[1]
Agency executive	Vanita Gupta, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General
Parent department	U.S. Department of Justice
Website	usdoj.gov/crt

The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is the institution within the federal government responsible for enforcing federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. The Division was established on December 9, 1957, by order of Attorney General William P. Rogers, after the Civil Rights Act of 1957 created the office of Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, who has since then headed the division. The head of the Civil Rights Division is an Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights (AAG-CR) appointed by the President of the United States. The current Acting AAG-CR is Vanita Gupta.

Assistant Attorney Generals

Drew S. Days, III was the first African-American Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

     denotes head that served as acting Assistant Attorney General

#	Head	Took office	Left office	Party	Administration	Ref.
1	White, W. WilsonW. Wilson White	1957	1960	Republican	Dwight D. Eisenhower	[2]
2	Tyler, Harold R.Harold R. Tyler	1960	1961	Republican	Dwight D. Eisenhower	[3]
3	Marshall, BurkeBurke Marshall	1961	1965	Democratic	John F. Kennedy	[3]
4	Doar, JohnJohn Doar	1965	1967	Democratic	Lyndon B. Johnson	[3]
5	Pollak, Stephen J.Stephen J. Pollak	1968	1969	Democratic	Lyndon B. Johnson	[3]
6	Leonard, JerrisJerris Leonard	1969	1971	Republican	Richard Nixon	[3]
7	Norman, David LukeDavid Luke Norman	1971	1973	Republican	Richard Nixon	[3]
8	Pottinger, J. StanleyJ. Stanley Pottinger	1973	1977	Republican	Richard Nixon	[3]
9	Days, Drew S.Drew S. Days	1977	1980	Democratic	Jimmy Carter	[3]
10	Reynolds, William BradfordWilliam Bradford Reynolds	1981	1988	Republican	Ronald Reagan	[3][4]
–	Lucas, William C.William C. Lucas (acting)	1988	1989	Republican	Ronald Reagan
–	Turner, James P.James P. Turner (acting)	1989	1990	Republican	Ronald Reagan
11	Dunne, John R.John R. Dunne	1990	1993	Republican	George H. W. Bush	[3]
–	Turner, James P.James P. Turner (acting)	1993	1994	Democratic	Bill Clinton
12	Patrick, DevalDeval Patrick	1994	1997	Democratic	Bill Clinton	[3]
13	Lee, Bill LannBill Lann Lee	1997	2001	Democratic	Bill Clinton	[5]
14	Boyd, Ralph F.Ralph F. Boyd	2001	2003	Republican	George W. Bush
–	Schlozman, BradleyBradley Schlozman (acting)	2003	2003	Republican	George W. Bush
15	Acosta, R. AlexanderR. Alexander Acosta	2003	2005	Republican	George W. Bush
16	Kim, Wan J.Wan J. Kim	2005	2007	Republican	George W. Bush
–	Becker, Grace ChungGrace Chung Becker (acting)	2008	2008	Republican	George W. Bush
17	Perez, ThomasThomas Perez	2009	2013	Democratic	Barack Obama	[6]
–	Samuels, JocelynJocelyn Samuels (acting)	2013	2014	Democratic	Barack Obama
–	Moran, Molly J.Molly J. Moran (acting)	2014	2014	Democratic	Barack Obama
–	Gupta, VanitaVanita Gupta (acting)	2014	Present	Democratic	Barack Obama	[7]

Organization

• Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights
  • Appellate Section
  • Coordination and Review Section
  • Criminal Section
  • Disability Rights Section
  • Educational Opportunities Section
  • Employment Litigation Section
  • Housing and Civil Enforcement Section
  • Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices
  • Policy & Strategy Section
  • Special Litigation Section
  • Voting Section

Jurisdiction

The Division enforces

• the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, 1964, and 1968
• the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended through 2006
• the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974
• the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
• the National Voter Registration Act of 1993
• the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009
• the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986
• the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1984
• the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act of 1980, which authorizes the Attorney General to seek relief for persons confined in public institutions where conditions exist that deprive residents of their constitutional rights
• the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1994
• the Police Misconduct Provision of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994
• Section 102 of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), as amended, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of national origin and citizenship status as well as document abuse and retaliation under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952.

In addition, the Division prosecutes actions under several criminal civil rights statutes which were designed to preserve personal liberties and safety.

References

1. 2015 Department of Justice Budget Authority by Appropriation, United States Department of Justice, Accessed 22 December 2015
2. "The Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division: A Historical Perspective as the Division Nears 50, Remarks by Wan Kim, Mar. 22, 2006" (PDF).
3. Turner, James P. (December 14, 1997). "Used and Abused: The Civil Rights Division". Washington Post. p. C01. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
4. Garcia, Philip J. (November 9, 1988). "Assistant Attorney General William Bradford Reynolds, the Justice Department's Controversial Civil Rights Chief, Resigned Wednesday Effective Dec. 9". United Press International (UPI). Retrieved 22 December 2015.
5. Marquis, Christopher (August 4, 2000). "Clinton Sidesteps Senate to Fill Civil Rights Enforcement Job". New York Times. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
6. "Meet the AAG Banner". The United States Department of Justice. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
7. "Attorney General Holder Announces Vanita Gupta to Serve as Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division". The United States Department of Justice. October 15, 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.

External links

• Civil Rights Division - Home Page