The lion of the U.S. Senate is roaring.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., has published an academic article criticizing the Department of Justice鈥檚 civil rights division under President Bush鈥檚 administration, including its oversight of school desegregation cases and other education issues.
The senator says in the , in the current edition of the Harvard Law & Policy Review, that under the current administration, 鈥渢he vital cooperation between political appointees and career civil servants in the division has broken down, with troubling consequences.鈥�
Sen. Kennedy says the educational opportunities section, which oversees desegregation and other civil rights issues in schools, has been spared political pressures faced by other units within the civil rights division. But the education section, which was once one of the division鈥檚 largest, 鈥渉as been allowed to atrophy鈥� and is now one of the smallest in its number of lawyers, the article says.
鈥淭he section has reduced its focus on race discrimination and spent its limited resources bringing cases to enhance freedom of religion鈥� in education,鈥� the senator says.
The article also asserts that the Bush administration has taken the view that school districts鈥� use of race to integrate voluntarily is unconstitutional, even though that view goes beyond the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 more nuanced on that issue, which allowed for the voluntary consideration of race in some circumstances.
鈥淭he harms of segregation and benefits of integration are well documented, and there can be no doubt that the nation still needs the division鈥檚 active leadership in this area,鈥� Sen. Kennedy writes.
Scot Montrey, a Justice Department spokesman, said in an e-mail that the educational opportunities section has helped lead the fight to desegregate schools and 鈥渙ffer new solutions for achieving equality of opportunity in American education.鈥�
鈥淭he Civil Rights Division has a robust record of achievement in protecting the rights of minorities, and has made changes when and where necessary to ensure that our core mission remains unaffected by influences beyond the letter of the law,鈥� Mr. Montrey said.
