The Justice Department under Eric Holder has come under a great deal of legitimate criticism for its conduct on national security issues, which greatly resembles that of the Bush administration at the twilight of its second term.
One place where the differences are stark, however, is in the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, which was marred by politicized hiring and enforcement for the last eight years. At a briefing with reporters earlier today, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Thomas Perez highlighted the many recent hate crimes cases that have been brought in the two months since he was confirmed. There was a precipitous drop in hate crimes cases brought during the Bush administration, which plunged to a low of 12 in 2006 (compared to a low of 29 during the Clinton administration) even as incidents of hate crimes rose from 2001. Hate crimes prosecutions rose again to 23 in 2008 after former Attorney General Michael Mukasey took the reins in November of 2007. There have been 25 cases filed in 2009--the most since 2001.
Perez pointed to one case in particular as examples of what he called the "cancer" of hate crimes involving a "father-son team" of perpetrators. In South Carolina in 2007, a father and son assaulted a black man with a chainsaw and gun at a Stop-and-Shop where the victim had tried to use the restroom, and then stole the victim's car. The two men plead guilty to federal civil rights and carjacking charges last week.
Asked about the pending Office of Professional Responsibility report into the infamous Black Panther Voting Rights case, Perez would say only that he "welcomed" the results of the inquiry.
"The Civil Rights Division is again open for business," Perez said, in an oblique reference to the Bush administration's politicized stewardship. "We're not the buffet line at the cafeteria; we enforce the laws, all of the laws."
-- A. Serwer
