The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice

Running head: RATIONALE FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Rationale for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

RATIONALE FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE
1
Introduction
The Civil Rights Division is a related agency of the Department of Justice of the US,
which is established in the year of 1957 after enacting the Civil Rights Act of 1957. The
fundamental work of this agency is to uphold the rights both civil and constitutional of every
American people, specifically of those people who are considered to be the most vulnerable
members of the American society. This particular Division implements several federal
statutes in order to prohibit discrimination on the ground of race, sex, caste, creed, religion,
color, disability mental as well as physical, national origin and sexual orientation (Bloom,
2019).
From the time when it established, a radical change has been observed in the size as
well as in the scope of the agency. Not only is that this agency plays an important role in
numerous battles of the country related to key civil rights. For instance, the defendants were
prosecuted by the attorneys of this Division, who were alleged of killing three workers of
civil rights in Mississippi in the year of 1964. The attorneys of the aforesaid Division were
also engaged in the enquiry of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King (Jr.) and Medgar
Evers. A vast range of laws have been enforced by this Division in order to protect the civil
and constitutional rights of the people (‘About the Division’, 2020).
The person, who leads the said Division is the Assistant Attorney General. A Chief of
the Section and several Deputy Chiefs Legal and Special Legal or Litigation Counsels are in
charge of every section. The headquarters of this Division is situated in the Washington D.C.
consists of the leaders of the Division, such as Section Chiefs, managerial workers and
attorneys. Apart from implementing several federal statutes, this Division also helps in
amending various rights, such as the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Voting Rights Act of
1965, the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 and the Civil Rights of Institutionalized
Persons Act by the passage of the Civil Rights Act, 1957 (‘About the Division’, 2020).

RATIONALE FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE
2
In addition, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, the Trafficking Victims
Protection Act of 2000, the Police Misconduct Provision of the Violent Crime Control and
Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and Section 102 of the Immigration Reform and Control Act
of 1986 are also imposed by this Division in order to prohibit discrimination on the ground of
national origin and status of citizenship along with misuse of official papers and retaliation.
Not only is that, every departmental obligations in relation to the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA), 1990 are vested in this Division. The equal chance for persons with
disabilities in education, employment, services, conveyance, public lodgings and
telecommunication are ensured by the ADA.
The work and responsibilities of the said Division is carried out by eleven sections,
namely, Appellate Section, Disability Right Section, Policy and Strategy Section, Criminal
Section, Education Opportunities Section, Voting Section, Employment Litigation Section
and other four sections. It is important for the Division to acclimate and improve
continuously in order to implement the law effectually. The meaning of this is that
encouraging the employees to find new and better options for their work and to ensure that
managerial resources, budget and IT support complement our mission. Therefore, the mission
must include the assurance that the workforce of this Division is handled efficiently.
The objective of this Division is to maintain human dignity, equal justice and
opportunity for all American people, inclusive of:
 Guarding the most helpless individuals by confirming that every one of them can live
without fear of crime, bigotry and abuse in America;
 Protecting the fundamental democratic system; and
 Enhancing the chance for all individuals by giving them the chance to study, live and
devotion in one's culture openly.