All articles tagged with #civil rights division
The Justice Department fired at least four prosecutors who handled FACE Act prosecutions during the Biden administration, including Sanjay Patel; the terminations occurred as the department prepared a report on weaponizing the FACE Act.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has filed federal lawsuits against Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia, and New Jersey for failing to produce complete statewide voter registration lists, raising the total of states facing such actions to 29 plus the District of Columbia; officials say accurate voter rolls are essential for election integrity, and the department will continue its oversight across federal elections.
The Trump administration appears to steer the Minneapolis ICE shooting investigation away from the officer who fired and toward the victim, Renee Good, triggering multiple resignations in Minnesota’s U.S. Attorney’s Office as local investigators are blocked from accessing evidence. The DOJ says there is no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation and the Civil Rights Division will not assist, a departure from usual FBI practice that has drawn political scrutiny and disrupted the state-federal investigation dynamic.
Several career prosecutors in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division are resigning after learning there will be no criminal civil rights probe into the fatal Minneapolis shooting by a federal immigration agent, reflecting leadership frustrations and a broader exodus within the division.
Six senior leaders of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division (Criminal Section) resigned in protest after Harmeet Dhillon decided not to open a separate DOJ probe into the January 7 fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer in Minneapolis, with the FBI taking over the investigation and escalating political tensions surrounding the case.
The Justice Department issued a statement following the death of Roger Golubski, who was due to face trial on serious charges. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke and U.S. Attorney Kate E. Brubacher expressed regret that the case could not be publicly tried and acknowledged the lasting impact on those involved, urging respect for their privacy.
The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against the State of Tennessee and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by enforcing the state’s aggravated prostitution statute against people living with HIV. The department found that the statute subjects individuals with HIV to harsher criminal penalties solely because of their HIV status, leading to discrimination, increased homelessness, and unemployment. The lawsuit reflects the Justice Department’s commitment to ensuring that people living with HIV are not targeted because of their disability and aims to address the discrimination and outdated science behind the enforcement of state criminal laws based on HIV status.
The prosecutor in Austin, Texas, dismissed 17 indictments against police officers for their tactics during the 2020 George Floyd protests, while city officials are calling for a federal investigation into the Austin Police Department. The Travis County District Attorney will continue prosecuting four officers and has requested the Justice Department to conduct a "pattern-or-practice" investigation into the department's crowd control actions. The city has already paid over $18 million to settle civil lawsuits related to the protests, with eight suits still pending. The officers' lawyers claim the case was political and should have been a civil lawsuit instead.
The Justice Department has launched a civil pattern or practice investigation into the City of Trenton, New Jersey, and the Trenton Police Department (TPD) to determine if there are systemic violations of the Constitution and federal law. The investigation will focus on TPD's use of force, stops, searches, and arrests, and will include a comprehensive review of policies, training, supervision, and complaint procedures. The Justice Department aims to address any substantiated violations and restore trust between the police and the community. Officials have notified Trenton's mayor and police department, who have pledged to cooperate. The investigation will be conducted jointly by the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey.