Rights Coalition Opposes Lucas for Justice Dept. Post

A coalition of civil rights organizations voiced its opposition Tuesday to the appointment of William Lucas to head the Justice Department’s civil rights division.

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights said Lucas does not have the experience or litigation skills needed in the position, which is the federal government’s top civil rights job.

The conference is an umbrella group of 180 organizations and the opposition was adopted “by consensus” at a meeting of the conference, said Ralph Neas, executive director of the organization.

The opposition was the latest round in the controversy swirling around Lucas, a black Detroit lawyer. Lucas, 61, also has been an FBI agent, sheriff of Wayne County, Mich., and the chief executive of that county.

Lucas is being backed for the post by Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, some members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Rev. Joseph Lowery, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

But the nomination of Lucas, a Democrat-turned-Republican, has been opposed by the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights group.

The leadership conference position said the organization would “work to persuade the U.S. Senate to withhold confirmation of the nomination” once it is proposed by President Bush.