Gonzales Speaks On DOJ's Enforcement of Religious Liberty Protections

Yesterday, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales spoke at the Detroit Economic Club on DOJ's "Successful Record on Enforcing Our Nation's Civil Rights Laws" (full text). His talk covered a wide range of civil rights issues, including religious liberty. Here is some of what he had to say on that topic:

The Department of Justice has aggressively enforced the laws against religious discrimination in everything from education, to employment, to fair housing. For example, after years without any investigations involving religious discrimination in education, the Department has opened 40 investigations....

In one case we stood in defense of Nashala Hearn, a Muslim girl in the sixth grade in Muskogee, Oklahoma, whose school told her that she could not wear a headscarf required by her faith.... I'm especially proud of these cases, because no child should have to choose between the right to practice her religion and the right to an education.

As part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen and preserve religious liberty..., in February I unveiled ... the First Freedom Project.... We also have worked actively to protect those who have been endangered because of their religion or ethnicity.... In one case a man... built two incendiary devices... and attacked the Islamic Center of El Paso, Texas....

And we saw subtler forms of bigotry, imposed not through fire, but through law, as communities used zoning rules to restrict religious freedom. When the Muslim Community Center in Morton Grove, Illinois, wanted to expand its facilities... they encountered exactly this type of backlash. The Department mediated a resolution.... We aggressively pursue hate crimes and discrimination cases like these because they strike not just at individuals but at whole communities.