Civil Rights Division

Civil Rights Division in the United States

The Civil Rights Division, headed by an Assistant Attorney General, was established in 1957 to secure effective Federal enforcement of civil rights. The Division is the primary institution within the Federal Government responsible for enforcing Federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, citizenship, and national origin.

The Division has responsibilities in the following areas:

  • Coordination and review of various civil rights statutes that prohibit
    discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, and religion
    in programs and activities that receive Federal financial assistance by Federal
    agencies.
  • Criminal cases involving conspiracies to interfere with federally protected rights; deprivation of rights under color of law; the use of force or threat of force to injure or intimidate someone in their enjoyment of speci?c rights (such as voting, housing, employment, education, public facilities, and accommodations); (1)
  • Disability rights cases, achieving equal opportunity for people with disabilities in the United States by implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The section’s enforcement, certi?cation, regulatory, coordination, and technical assistance activities, combined with an innovative mediation program and a technical assistance grant program, provide an approach for carrying out the ADA’s mandates. (2)
  • Educational opportunities litigation, involving title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974, and title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In addition, the section is responsible for enforcing other statutes. (3)
  • Employment litigation enforcing against State and local government employers the provisions of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and other Federal laws prohibiting employment practices that discriminate on grounds of race, sex, religion, and national origin. (4)
  • Housing and Civil Enforcement statutes enforcing the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in housing and other legislation (5)
  • Immigration-related unfair employment practices enforcing the antidiscrimination provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (6)
  • Special litigation protecting the constitutional and statutory rights of persons con?ned in certain institutions owned or operated by State or local governments, including facilities for individuals with mental and developmental disabilities, nursing homes, prisons, jails, and juvenile detention facilities where a pattern or practice of violations exist (7)
  • Voting cases enforcing the Voting Rights Act, the Help America Vote Act of 2002, the National Voter Registration Act, the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, and other Federal statutes designed to safeguard citizens’ rights to vote. (8)

Civil Rights Division History

According to the Encyclopedia of the American Constitution, about its article titled CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION: Created by Order of the Attorney General No. 3204, February 3, 1939, the Civil Rights Section (originally named the Civil Rights Unit) of the Justice Department became the federal government’s principal civil rights litigation unit.

Resources

Notes

  1. interference with the free exercise of religious beliefs or damage to religious
    property; the holding of a worker in a condition of slavery or involuntary
    servitude; and interference with persons seeking to obtain or provide reproductive
    services.
  2. The section also carries out responsibilities under sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Help America Vote Act of 2002, the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act, and Executive Order 12250.
  3. Such as title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act upon referral from other governmental agencies.
  4. The section also enforces against State and local government and private employers the provisions of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, which prohibits employers from discriminating or retaliating against an employee or
    applicant for employment because of such person’s past, current, or future military obligation.
  5. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which prohibits discrimination in credit; title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE prohibits discrimination in certain
    places of public accommodation, such as hotels, restaurants, nightclubs and theaters; title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in public facilities; and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which prohibits local governments from adopting or enforcing land use regulations that discriminate against religious assemblies and institutions or which unjusti?ably burden religious exercise.
  6. Which protect U.S. citizens and legal immigrants from employment discrimination based upon citizenship or immigration status and national origin, unfair documentarypractices relating to the employment eligibility veri?cation process, and retaliation.
  7. Civil enforcement of statutes prohibiting a pattern or practice of conduct by law
    enforcement agencies that violates Federal law; and protection against a threat of force and physical obstruction that injures, intimidates, or interferes with a person seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services, or to exercise the ?rst amendment right of religious freedom at a place of worship.
  8. This includes racial and language minorities, illiterate persons, individuals with disabilities, overseas citizens, persons who change their residence shortly before a Presidential election, and persons 18 to 20 years of age.

See Also

  • Civil Rights And Civil Liberties
  • Civil Rights
  • Civil Rights Practice
  • Minority Rights Civil Rights For Blacks
  • Civil Rights For Hispanics And Asian Americans
  • United States Commission on Civil Rights
  • Civil Rights Cases
  • Civil Rights Act Of 1875
  • Civil Rights Act Of 1957
  • Civil Rights Commission
  • Civil Rights Removal
  • Civil Rights History
  • Civil Rights Act of 1871
  • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

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