Civil Rights Enforcement

On Oct. 4, an editorial appeared purporting to examine the issue of presidential leadership on civil rights under the following subheading: “Massive problems remain in unemployment, education and housing that rhetoric alone cannot hope to address.” Unfortunately, the editorial, which called for stronger civil rights enforcement, focused on the rhetoric of this election season and gave scant attention to the actual record of the Bush Administration on civil rights enforcement.

As assistant attorney general in charge of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, I can offer some hard facts on the department’s positive civil rights enforcement record.

Los Angeles is no stranger to our vigorous enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. We established in federal court that the County of Los Angeles violated the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution by deliberately fragmenting Hispanic voting strength in drawing districts for the election of county supervisors. The remedy in that case resulted in election of the first Hispanic supervisor in this century. We have also objected to 87 redistricting plans from local jurisdictions in 10 states.

We have achieved unprecedented success in our criminal prosecutions of police and official misconduct and of racially and religiously motivated violence. In fiscal year 1991--the last for which full statistics are available--we charged more defendants than were brought in the previous two years. In the past year, for example, we won a conviction against a Los Angeles Police Department officer for beating a youth, sending him into convulsions and fracturing his skull. And we recently obtained indictments against the police officers involved in the Rodney King incident. We have also successfully prosecuted numerous hate crimes.

Our efforts to combat discrimination against those who seek public employment have borne considerable fruit. Since January, 1989, we have obtained relief in 89 lawsuits under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That relief has put a stop to unlawful practices, has obtained jobs, promotions and seniority for thousands and has produced over $24 million in back pay for victims.

In the fight against housing discriminating, our activity and our successes have multiplied since Congress toughened the Fair Housing Act. We have filed record numbers of cases alleging discrimination on the basis of race, gender, familial status and handicap against defendants including municipalities, owners and managers of apartment buildings, condominium associations and mobile home parks.

In education, while continuing to enforce the requirements of the Constitution in primary and secondary education, the department has made progress in the effort to ensure equal educational opportunity in higher education. The department argued before the Supreme Court last term that Mississippi had not yet taken sufficient steps to remedy the effects which its previously segregated system of higher education had on black colleges. The Supreme Court agreed and sent the case back to the lower courts where we expect to win further relief. We are pursuing similar cases in Louisiana and Alabama.

Does more need to be done to ensure an equal opportunity for all individuals to share in the American experience without regard to race, ethnicity, or gender? Of course it does; and we must press ahead with energy and imagination. But, in making the case for doing so, let us not disparage or overlook the factual record, which documents the enormous efforts and successes of the Department of Justice in enforcing our nation’s civil rights laws.

JOHN R. DUNNE

Department of Justice, Washington