PAD 599 Capstone: Evaluation of Civil Rights Division of DOJ

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ). It begins with an introduction to the division, its establishment, and its core mission of upholding civil and constitutional rights for all Americans, particularly the vulnerable. The report then delves into the division's functions, including investigating discrimination cases, enforcing federal statutes, and addressing current events. The report also covers the division's administrative ethics, leadership, and the influence of political contexts. The report highlights the importance of the division in prohibiting discrimination and promoting equal opportunities. The assignment aligns with the PAD 599 Capstone project requirements, analyzing current events, assessing leadership, and providing a rationale for the selection of the Civil Rights Division.

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

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RATIONALE FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE
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).

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RATIONALE FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
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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.

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RATIONALE FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
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In order to achieve these goals and objectives in the Fiscal Year 2020, the Division calls for a
minimum of $153,223,000 in funding 608 jobs, including 371 civil rights lawyers in our
country (‘About The Division’, 2020).
Functions of the Agency
Almost every scholars are of the view that the Civil Rights Division, whose parent
agency is the Department of Justice of the US in created 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. However, it also has some other responsibilities. The
major functions of the division discussed below:
 Inspect cases of discrimination on the ground of schooling, loan, housing, public
lodgings and services, federally subsidized programs, voting, and prisoners’ rights
and interests, disabled individuals both mentally and physically and senior citizens
and launch lawful proceedings, when warranting such evidence in cases of
discrimination (Shull, 2017);
 Criminal law breaches banning certain acts of interfering with federally guarded
rights and actions including intrigues to interfere with or obstruct the application of
such rights of certain persons or groups of persons (Kennedy, 2008);
 Controversies against anti-trafficking laws, including the Trafficking in Victims
Protection Act of 2000, have been carried out and play a major role in recognizing,
safeguarding and helping trafficking victims.
Current Events
Recently, some incidents happened in which a significant role has been played by the
Civil Rights Division. Such as:

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RATIONALE FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
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o In relation to the extortion system concerning call centers in Peru, Johnny Hidalgo
and Rodolfo Hermoza accused themselves regarding the conspiration in relation to
commit mail fraud and wire fraud on 15 January2020. In their culpable plea, Hidalgo
and Hermoza admitted that, together with others, they administered customers called
in the United States who were fake attorneys or government legislative body. Victims
were threatened by the callers that they marked with poor ratings, detention and
expulsion on their credit reports. On the basis of these pressures, several victims made
monetary payments. The suspects were captured and transferred to Miami by
Peruvian authorities in 2016. The trial is set for 26 March 2019.
o The guilty plea for wire fraud and a charge for forced identity stealing was released
by Gareth David Long in the Nevada district on 05 November 2019. Long admitted in
guilty plea that he was stealing millions of dollars from testing accounts using
personal and financial details from the more than 375,000 victims. In order to buy a
ranch in Texas, airplanes, cars, buses, ATVs and fire trucks, and to reimburse further
private expenditures Long used the money from his deceptive arrangement. The trial
is set for 20 February 2020.
Rationale
It cannot be ignored that this Division has a great importance in prohibiting
discrimination on the ground of race, sex, caste, creed, religion, color, and disability mental
as well as physical, national origin and sexual orientation. Apart from that, this Agency can
be selected for the following reasons, such as:
1. This Division helps to implement and amend federal statutes in order to prohibit
discrimination, such as Voting Rights Act, 1965 was signed before fifty years ago

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RATIONALE FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
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which made racial discrimination unlawful in case of applying voting rights (Shull,
2017);
2. It helps to create equal opportunity for all American people in education,
employment, services, conveyance, public lodgings and telecommunication system by
maintaining human dignity and equal justice (Sikkink, 2018).

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RATIONALE FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
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Reference
About The Division. (2020). Retrieved 15 February 2020, from
https://www.justice.gov/crt/about-division
Bloom, J. M. (2019). Class, race, and the civil rights movement. Indiana University Press.
Kennedy, E. M. (2008). Restoring the Civil Rights Division. Harv. L. & Pol'y Rev., 2, 211.
Shull, S. A. (2017). A kinder, gentler racism?: the Reagan-Bush civil rights legacy.
Routledge.
Sikkink, K. (2018). Mixed signals: US human rights policy and Latin America. Cornell
University Press.
Suhay, E., & Garretson, J. (2018). Science, Sexuality, and Civil Rights: Does Information on
the Causes of Sexual Orientation Change Attitudes?. The Journal of Politics, 80(2),
692-696.