Under the previous attorney general, Bill Barr, the justice department was often seen as at Trump’s beck and call, the former president accused of treating it as virtually his own legal service. To oversee civil rights, Biden tapped two prominent veterans in the field: Kristen Clarke, who still awaits Senate confirmation to become the first black woman to lead the civil rights division, and Pamela Karlan the number two in the division. “I was very happy to see their moves in Arizona and to re-establish the historic roles in enforcing civil rights and voting rights.”Some department voting rights veterans are hopeful too about the changes under way. “DoJ was missing in action in the Trump years in terms of civil rights enforcement – especially in the voting rights world,” said Gerry Hebert, who was a senior lawyer in the voting rights section for over 20 years. But Karlan and Clarke, Hebert said, are: “superstars in the civil rights community … and will be game-changers because they know how vigorous enforcement of civil rights laws improves all Americans Lives.”

Source: The Guardian May 18, 2021 06:00 UTC