8-1.000 - Civil Rights Division

8-1.010 - General

Subject to the general supervision of the Attorney General and under the direction of the Associate Attorney General on civil matters and the Deputy Attorney General on criminal matters, the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division is responsible for conducting, handling, and supervising civil rights matters, as more particularly described in 28 C.F.R. § 0.50. The Civil Rights Division consists of the following Sections: Administrative Management, Appellate, Criminal, Disability Rights, Educational Opportunities, Employment Litigation, Federal Coordination and Compliance, Housing and Civil Enforcement, Immigrant and Employee Rights, Policy and Strategy, Special Litigation, and Voting.

Because of the sensitive nature of the constitutional and statutory issues involved and the desirability of uniform application of federal law in this field, close consultation between United States Attorney’s Offices and the Civil Rights Division on civil rights matters is essential. Civil Rights Division attorneys may conduct investigations and litigation in conjunction with the United States Attorney’s Offices. Civil Rights Division attorneys will maintain close contact and consult with the United States Attorney’s Offices on a continuing basis.

Any statements issued to the press in connection with civil rights investigations, litigation, or trial should be coordinated through the Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs and the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, and the relevant United States Attorney’s Office, where such an office is involved.

[updated March 2018]

8-1.100 - Statutes and Executive Orders Administered by the Civil Rights Division

The following is a list of federal statutes, executive orders, and regulations administered by the Civil Rights Division.

1. CIVIL STATUTES. 8 U.S.C. § 1324b (Immigration and Nationality Act’s anti-discrimination provision); 15 U.S.C. §§ 1691 to 1691f (Equal Credit Opportunity Act); 18 U.S.C. § 248 (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act); 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681 to 1688 (Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972), 1706 to 1710 (Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974); 29 U.S.C. §§ 794 to 794g (Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973); 34 U.S.C. §§ 12491 to 12496 (Housing Rights subpart of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022), 12601 (Pattern or Practice of Unlawful Conduct by Law Enforcement or in the Administration of Juvenile Justice), 10228 (Safe Streets Act); 38 U.S.C. §§ 708(c) and 4301 to 4335 (USERRA); 42 U.S.C. §§ 1997 to 1997j (Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act), 2000a to 2000a-6 (Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964), 2000b to 2000b-3 (Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1964), 2000c to 2000c-9 (Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964), 2000d to 2000d-7 (Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964), 2000e to 2000e-7 (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964), 2000h-2 (Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964), 2000cc to 2000cc-5 (Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act), 2000ff to 2000ff-11 (Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act), 3601 to 3619 (Fair Housing Act), 2000gg to 2000gg-6 (Pregnant Worker Fairness Act), 12101 to 12213 (Americans with Disabilities Act); 50 U.S.C. §§ 3901 to 4043 (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act), 52 U.S.C. §§ 10101 (Civil Rights Act of 1957), 10301 to 10702 (Voting Rights Act of 1965); 20101 to 20107 (Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1984), 20301 to 20311 (Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986), 20501 to 20511 (National Voter Registration Act of 1993), 20701 to 20706 (Civil Rights Act of 1960), 21081 to 21085, 21111 (Help America Vote Act of 2002).
2. CRIMINAL STATUTES.  18 U.S.C. §§ 241 (Conspiracy against rights), 242 (Deprivation of rights under color of law), 243 (Exclusion of jurors on account of race or color), 244 (Discrimination against person wearing uniform of armed forces), 245 (Federally protected activities), 246 (Deprivation of relief benefits), 247 (Damage to religious property; obstruction of persons in the free exercise of religious beliefs), 248 (Freedom of access to clinic entrances), 249 (Hate crime acts), 250 (Civil Rights Offenses Involving Sexual Misconduct), 594 (Intimidation of voters), 875 (Interstate communications), 876 (Mailing threatening communications), 1351 (Fraud in foreign labor contracting), 1504 (Influencing juror by writing), 1508 (Recording, listening to, or observing proceedings of grand or petit juries while deliberating or voting), 1510 (Obstruction of criminal investigations), 1519 (Destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations and bankruptcy), 1531 (Partial Birth Abortion Act), 1581 (Peonage), 1582 (Vessels for slave trade), 1583 (Enticement into slavery), 1584 (Involuntary servitude), 1585 (Seizure, detention, transportation or sale of slaves), 1586 (Service on vessels in slave trade), 1587 (Possession of slaves aboard vessel), 1588 (Transportation of slaves from United States), 1589 (Forced labor), 1590 (trafficking with respect to servitude), 1592 (Document servitude), 1593 (Restitution), 1593A (Benefitting financially from trafficking), 1594 (General provisions, including attempts and conspiracies), 1597 (Unlawful conduct with respect to immigration documents), 1621-1623 (Perjury), 2421 (Transportation for purposes of prostitution); 42 U.S.C. §§ 300a-8 (Coerced abortion or sterilization through threatened loss of federal benefit), 2000e-8 and e-10 (Certain wrongdoing by EEOC), 3631 (Criminal provisions of Fair Housing Act); 52 U.S.C.A. § 10307 (Refusal of person, acting under color of law, to permit vote of qualified voter), 10308, 10501-10503, 10505 (Relating to voting), 10701 (Enforcement of 26th Amendment), 20701 and 20702 (Related to record keeping in elections).

The Civil Rights Division shares enforcement responsibility under certain statutes with the Criminal Division, generally depending upon whether the matter involves discrimination or intimidation on account of race, or, in the case of those statutes dealing with obstruction of justice, relates to civil rights litigation. See 28 C.F.R. §§ 0.50 and 0.55. The Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section has responsibility for enforcing 18 U.S.C. § 1591 when the violation involves minor victims. The Civil Rights Division has enforcement responsibility for § 1591 in cases involving sex trafficking of adults and international sex trafficking. The Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section has responsibility for enforcing 18 U.S.C. §§ 841-848, 924, 1503, 1509, 1511-1513, 1952, and 2241-2248. The Civil Rights Division has enforcement responsibility for those statutes only where the defendant or target of the investigation is a state actor, as part of a civil rights investigation. The Criminal Division’s Fraud Section has responsibility for enforcing Title 18, United States Code Section 1001.  The Civil Rights Division only has responsibility under 18U.S.C. § 1001 with respect to false official statements made in connection with alleged violations of federal civil rights statutes. The Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section has responsibility for enforcing 8 U.S.C. §§ 1324, 1324c, and 1328, and for enforcing 18U.S.C. §§ 2241-2248 with respect to sexual abuse in the Special Maritime and Territorial Jurisdiction of the United States. The Civil Rights Division has enforcement responsibility under 8 U.S.C. §§ 1324, 1328 and 18 U.S.C. §§ 1351, 1546, 1952, 2421 where such violations are in connection with human trafficking or other criminal civil rights violations, and over §§ 2241-2248 in cases involving sexual abuse in federal prison, and sexual abuse by Federal law enforcement officers.

3.  EXECUTIVE ORDERS.  Executive Orders 11246 (Affirmative Suits Against Federal Government Contractors), 12250 (Title VI of the Civil Rights Act), 13160 (Title VI of the Civil Rights Act), and 13166 (Title VI of the Civil Rights Act).
    
4. CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS. 28 C.F.R. §§ 35.101 to 35.190 (Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act); 28 C.F.R. §§ 36.101 to 36.608 (Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act); 28 C.F.R. §§ 42.101 to 42.112 (Department of Justice Title VI implementing regulations); 28 C.F.R. §§ 42.201 to 42.215 (Safe Streets Act implementing regulations); 28 C.F.R. §§ 44.101 to 44.305 (regulations implementing Immigration and Nationality Act’s anti-discrimination provision); 28 C.F.R. §§ 54.100 to 54.605 (Department of Justice Title IX implementing regulations); 28 C.F.R. §§ 51.1 to 51.67 (Procedures for the Administration of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act); 28 C.F.R. §§ 55.1 to 55.24 (Implementation of the Provisions of the Voting Rights Act Regarding Language Minority Groups); 38 C.F.R. §§ 4301 to 4323 (USERRA Enforcement).
    

[updated July 2023]