To: Brumar89 who wrote (43223 ) 5/9/2013 10:11:42 AM From: FJB 1 Recommendation Respond to Justice Department hiring request fuels bias complaints; 44 civil rights lawyers sought Jerry Seper Questions have surfaced over a Justice Department plan to hire 44 more attorneys for its Civil Rights Division, which has been accused of bias by members of Congress and been described in a government report as having deep ideological differences that have fueled disputes harmful to its operation. Eric H. Holder Jr. ’s 2014 fiscal budget says the bulk of the attorneys being sought by the Justice Department are earmarked to help meet the “nation’s civil rights challenges,” to support the “department’s vigorous enforcement of federal civil rights laws” and to expand criminal enforcement efforts against “police misconduct.” the Civil Rights Division historically has hired lawyers based on their political views and not their legal experience, and changes need to be made before any new lawyers are brought on board. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee , said it will take “a new kind of leadership” to eliminate the “politicization and polarization of the Civil Rights Division.” Congress needs to continue its aggressive oversight of the department and, when necessary, offer legislative reforms to ensure that bad behavior doesn’t continue for another decade at the division.Mr. Grassley noted that the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General first reported on the division’s politicized hiring policies in 2008 and found similar problems in a follow-up report in March.Congress should demand that hiring “not be so skewed that it leads to hiring almost exclusively liberal attorneys at the expense of candidates with ‘stellar academic credentials and litigation experience.’”Rep. Frank R. Wolf , Virginia Republican and chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on commerce, justice and science, has called for an independent review of the Civil Rights Division. He said the inspector general’s report made it clear that the division had become “a rat’s nest of unacceptable and unprofessional actions, and even outright threats against career attorneys and systemic mismanagement.” Mr. Holder , Mr. Wolf acknowledged that problems within the division were not isolated to his tenure as attorney general but said it was his responsibility to resolve them.Mr. Wolf wrote. “As the head of the department , you bear ultimate responsibility for the serious abuses that have occurred over the last four years. I take these issues very seriously, both because of my responsibilities as chairman of the House CJS Appropriations subcommittee , which funds the Justice Department , but also because I have been a stalwart supporter of voting rights enforcement.”Sen. John Cornyn , Texas Republican, went to the Senate floor Wednesday to outline his opposition to the nomination of Thomas E. Perez , who heads the Civil Rights Division as an assistant attorney general, as President Obama’s labor secretary.Perez , the Voting Rights Division compiled a “disturbing record of political discrimination and selective enforcement of our laws.” He said the inspector general’s report found that the Voting Rights Section under Mr. Perez ’s leadership has become so politicized and so unprofessional that at times it became simply dysfunctional. Mr. Perez ’s nomination was postponed until May 16 at the request of committee Republicans.Mr. Perez came under heavy criticism from Republicans after the inspector general’s report, saying he had failed his leadership responsibilities.Justice Department agreed to withdraw two whistleblower cases against the city that Republicans said could have won up to $200 million in settlements for taxpayers.Story Continues ? washingtontimes.com
