Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Calls For Senate To Probe DOJ Connection To Sham Voter Commission At Oversight Hearing Next Month

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, released the following statement Wednesday regarding the announcement that Attorney General Jeff Sessions will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee next month for an oversight hearing.

“This oversight hearing of the Justice Department is long overdue.  With significant evidence of politicization at the Department and within the Civil Rights Division in particular, it is critical the Senate Judiciary Committee fulfills its oversight role.  The work of the Civil Rights Division is uniquely important, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions must be held accountable for the dramatic changes that have taken place on his watch, which have brought federal civil rights enforcement to a virtual grinding halt.  =

“We also urge the Senate to closely examine evidence that the Division is engaged in collusion with the highly controversial, so-called Election Integrity Commission.  The goals of the Commission are fully antithetical to the mission of the Division, which is charged with fighting—not prompting—voter suppression.”

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law has undertaken a series of comprehensive actions to challenge the Commission, including filing litigation in the D.C. District Court regarding the Commission’s lack of transparency.  The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law also issued a report following the first 100 days of Attorney General Sessions’s tenure to shine a spotlight on key civil rights matters that are being abused or ignored by this administration and Attorney General Sessions.

About the Lawyers’ Committee:

The Lawyers’ Committee, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination.  Now in its 54^th year, the Lawyers’ Committee is continuing its quest “Move America Toward Justice.” The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice for all, particularly in the areas of criminal justice, fair housing and community development, economic justice, educational opportunities, and voting rights.