Civilrights.org

Nearly 40 national civil rights organizations recently sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D. Nev., stating their concern over the obstructionist tactics used to stall Dawn Johnsen's nomination and urged him to bring the nomination to a vote quickly.

President Obama nominated Dawn Johnsen to head the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) in February.  Her nomination was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 19 and has been pending ever since.

The OLC is a critical agency that advises the executive branch on the constitutionality of proposed policies, legislation, and executive orders. Johnsen is well qualified for this position, having served in the OLC as a deputy assistant attorney general from 1993 to 1996 and as the acting assistant attorney general from 1997 to 1998. She is currently a professor of constitutional law at the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University.

"Professor Johnsen has the experience, the integrity, and the intellect to head this critical office. She should be confirmed without further delay…We urge you to use the full force of your office to bring this nomination to a vote at the earliest possible date," the letter states.

Read the letter (PDF)

A broad coalition of civil rights groups, including the Alliance for Justice, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and People For the American Way, is urging senators to eliminate the confirmation backlog of judicial and executive branch nominees.

A letter sent today to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R. Ky., states: "The obstruction of many of President Obama's nominees through filibuster threats and anonymous 'holds' is hindering the important work of our judicial and executive branches of government and threatening any prospect of bipartisan cooperation on many pressing national issues important to all Americans." Forty-five groups signed the letter.

Since taking office in January, President Obama has nominated 18 people to serve as judges on the federal courts.  Only one has been confirmed by the Senate.  In addition, the nominations of Tom Perez to head the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division and Dawn Johnsen to head the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel are still pending.  Johnsen's nomination has been pending since the Senate Judiciary Committee approved it in March.

Given that the nation is facing major challenges like an economic recession, the groups argue that blocking these important nominations "will poison the political atmosphere, needlessly heighten partisan tensions, and make it far more difficult for the federal government to serve the public interest in any respect."

Though the Civil Rights Movement was a non-violent movement, African Americans' struggle for civil rights was frequently violent. Knowing this, Congress put a provision into the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to create a body within the Department of Justice to be a "peacemaker" when community tensions arise based on race, color, or national origin. 

The Community Relations Service (CRS) provides aid to state and local governments and public and private organizations that are in preventing and resolving racial and ethnic tensions.  By providing independent conciliation services free of charge, CRS serves as an impartial mediator, facilitating racial harmony among communities of all sizes as well as the government.  In order to protect the integrity of the service and the engaged parties, the Act mandated that CRS' work be confidential and without publicity.

CRS played a critical role over the last 45 years in helping to make desegregation efforts run more smoothly in communities across the country.  Since its establishment, CRS has worked on a wide range of cases across the country, from school desegregation and urban riots, to tensions between local college students and community law enforcement.  In 2008, following the Jena 6 incident, CRS created a "Noose Incident Response Team" to better monitor community tensions around these incidents.

Yesterday, the Senate confirmed Robert Groves to head the Census Bureau.

Groves will manage the 2010 Census, which will take place in April 2010.  The bureau is currently verifying addresses and, in the fall, will open the remaining local offices and recruit census takers.

"In confirming Dr. Robert Groves to head the Census Bureau, the nation will get a leader who is a widely respected survey methodologist and a leading authority on the issue of non-response in surveys," said Wade Henderson, president and CEO of LCCR.  "With the census less than a year away, Dr. Groves will undoubtedly face some serious challenges, but we believe his training and experience have prepared him for this important job."

Yesterday, LCCR sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of the nomination of Tom Perez to be head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, saying that Perez is the "right person to take on the challenge" of returning the division to its former status as the nation's premier civil rights enforcement agency.  The letter was signed by more than 20 civil rights organizations.

The Civil Rights Division, created in 1957, is responsible for enforcing federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin, such as the Voting Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act, and the Americans With Disabilities Act.

However, in recent years the division has been plagued with controversy over political interference in its hiring policies and its inadequate enforcement of civil rights laws, leaving the division with little impact as a federal enforcement agency.

As the new assistant attorney general for civil rights, Perez will need to rebuild the morale of the division and renew its commitment to working to enforce the civil rights of all Americans.

Perez' confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee is tomorrow.