The Washington Post yesterday reported that the Justice Department's new Chief of Staff has sent a memo to Kathleen Wolf, the new supervisor of the Civil Rights Division, freezing temporarily any new actions by attorneys in the Division. The length of the freeze is unclear. The memo says that Civil Rights Division attorneys should not file any new complaints, motions to intervene, agreed-upon remands, amicus briefs, or statements of interest during the freeze. It explains that the freeze was imposed in order to be “consistent with the Department’s goal of ensuring that the Federal Government speaks with one voice in its view of the law and to ensure that the President’s appointees or designees have the opportunity to decide whether to initiate any new cases.” Movement in pending cases already filed will be determined by the judge assigned to each case. Among the cases handled by the Civil Rights Division are those alleging religious discrimination in violation of federal civil rights laws.
