Alternates for Lucas

The Senate Judiciary Committee’s rejection of William Lucas to head the Justice Department’s important civil rights division has given President Bush a second chance to choose a stronger and more knowledgeable candidate for the post.

William T. Coleman, a former Transportation secretary in the Ford Administration, would make an outstanding choice. Among his numerous specialties, Coleman, who practices law in Washington, is an expert in civil rights law.

When the Reagan Administration abandoned the federal government’s position opposing tax exemptions for private schools that discriminate, the Supreme Court appointed Coleman to argue, as it turned out successfully, against the exemptions. Coleman was a co-author of the legal brief presented in the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka case that led to the banning of school segregation in 1954.

Also worthy of consideration are J. Clay Smith Jr., a constitutional law professor at Howard University, who had been acting chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, and William H. Brown III, chairman of the EEOC during the Nixon Administration, who practices law in Philadelphia.

Bush might also consider Ralph G. Neas, who directs the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, which represents 185 civil rights organizations. Neas, a lawyer with extensive civil rights experience, would serve as a stalwart advocate for Americans who face discrimination in jobs, housing and schools.

When it comes to civil rights, President Bush says all the right things. His choice for the Justice Department’s top civil rights job should reflect his commitment to broad federal protections for all Americans.