Civil Rights Division Will Return To Traditional Agenda Without Ending Religious Discrimination Initiatives

Today's New York Times reports that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is pressing major changes in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division by refocusing on its traditional role that emphasized racial discrimination cases. The Division will again focus on high-impact cases involving voting rights, housing, employment discrimination, bank lending and Congressional redistricting. This shift was widely expected when Holder's nomination was announced. The Bush administration had shifted Division resources to focus on issues such as religious discrimination and human trafficking. (See prior posting.) Holder does not plan to dismantle these efforts, but instead to hire enough additional attorneys to do everything.