The following post appears courtesy of the Civil Rights Division.

The Civil Rights Division is tasked with enforcement of some of the most important laws enacted by Congress, which aim to fulfill our nation’s promise of equal opportunity and equal justice under the law.  In enforcing these laws, our goal is to be not simply the nation’s civil rights litigator, but also the nation’s civil rights problem-solver.

Among the ways that we can help solve problems is through technical assistance tools that encourage and facilitate voluntary compliance with civil rights requirements.  One such requirement – a requirement that will remain a continuing focus for the Civil Rights Division – is the obligation that state and local court systems provide meaningful access to all of their operations regardless of language ability.  For tens of millions of limited English proficient (LEP) individuals in our nation who may need to interact with state courts, the absence of effective court services and policies can make communication difficult or impossible.  Comprehensive language access programs are therefore a critical undertaking for states that want to ensure meaningful access to LEP individuals, comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and increase public confidence in the justice system while also improving judicial outcomes.

With these interests in mind, the Department of Justice is committed to providing technical assistance tools that will help courts develop – short of formal enforcement efforts – the kinds of programs that provide meaningful access to court operations regardless of language ability.  The Division’s Federal Coordination & Compliance Section has developed a draft Language Access Planning Technical Assistance Tool for Courts.  This tool is based on our experience working with state court systems around the country for more than a decade, and is designed to assist individuals involved in planning and implementing measures to improve access to court proceedings and operations for LEP parties, witnesses and other participants.  The draft tool highlights the importance of assessment and planning and identifies questions for state judges and court staff to consider as they identify challenges and opportunities for improvement. 

We developed this tool in order to respond to the many requests for technical assistance from courts and interested stakeholders.  It draws upon years of experience working with and hearing from courts, attorneys, LEP individuals, advocates and others.  Courts can use this tool to identify those areas that are already well-covered, as well as those that may require more long-term planning and implementation to accomplish. 

We welcome your feedback on this draft technical assistance tool.  Please send your comments and feedback to lep@usdoj.gov and make sure to include “Feedback on LEP Self-Assessment for Courts” in the subject line.  All comments must be submitted by Feb. 15, 2013.

The Civil Rights Division has also prepared additional other technical assistance tools regarding state court language access, accessible online in the State Courts section of the Resources by Subject page of www.LEP.gov.

The following post appears courtesy of Tom Perez, the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division

Last week, I had the great honor of visiting the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, Wis., where I met with leaders of the gurdwara and the families who worship there. It is clear that the hate crime committed on Aug. 5, 2012, when six beloved people were murdered and others injured as they worshipped in the gurdwara, has had an indelible impact on the community of Oak Creek, and far beyond.

Yet it also is clear that although the gurdwara has witnessed the very worst of human kind, its members have reacted with the best of human kind — with courage, compassion and strength.

At a memorial service for the victims of the mass shooting in August, Attorney General Eric Holder said:

“Although we have been brought together by an unspeakable tragedy, we are bound together by far more. We are united . . . not only by a shared sense of loss, but also by a common belief in the healing power of faith, and in the universal principles that are glorified in our nation’s churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, gurdwaras, and other houses of worship; but also by the principles of compassion, kindness, tolerance, inclusion, and love.”

Visiting the gurdwara, the overwhelming message I took back from the congregation is one of unity – a resolve to work together, with members of every faith to foster understanding, and to ensure that such tragic acts of violence are never repeated.

The attack on the Oak Creek gurdwara was a crime driven by hate. Sadly this hate crime does not stand alone, and the Justice Department will continue to combat hate crimes committed against Sikhs and Muslims wherever they occur. For example, last year the Civil Rights Division prosecuted and convicted a man who attacked a Sikh student in Texas because of his turban and beard, and we are currently prosecuting several arson and bomb threat cases against houses of worship.

I attended a town hall meeting hosted by the Justice Department where 22 diverse religious and interfaith groups came together at to discuss how religion-based hate crimes are tracked by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report. There was strong support from these groups for adding anti-Sikh and anti-Hindu, as well as anti-Arab, to the hate crime categories tracked by the Uniform Crime Report. Based on this meeting and the division’s own law enforcement experiences, the division and the Community Relations Service made arecommendation that these categories be added, both to the coding sheets that police fill out and the hate crime reports the FBI produces each year. We believe adding these categories would improve the data about hate crimes that helps inform our enforcement work.

Finally, bullying and harassment of Sikh children remains a serious problem, and schools are not permitted to turn a blind eye: the Division is committed to using the federal civil rights laws to ensure that schools are providing all students with the equal educational opportunities to which they are entitled. I was pleased to have the opportunity to speak with students at the East Oak Creek Middle School during my visit, where I shared the stories of other students the Division has helped and asked the students to speak out about the problems they are facing. Bullying is not a rite of passage, and every student has the right to go to a safe and bully-free school.

We recently marked the anniversary of the birth of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the first Sikh Guru. In light of the unspeakable violence directed against the Sikh congregation in Oak Creek, President Obama asked that we celebrate the anniversary by “recommit[ting] ourselves to the spirit of pluralism, equality and compassion that define both the Sikh community and our nation.” The Division has the great honor of joining the President and the Attorney General, and all people of good will, in this effort as we continue to enforce laws that move us toward a more tolerant, peaceful, and just society.

Learn more about the Division’s efforts to confront discrimination post-9/11 by downloading our Post-9/11 Civil Rights Summit Report (pdf). For more information about the Division’s hate crime prosecutions, download Deputy Assistant Attorney General Roy Austin’s September testimony (pdf), or visit http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/crm/matthewshepard.php.

This post appears courtesy of the Consumer Protection Branch of the Civil Division at the Department of Justice.

The holiday season is now upon us and consumers are beginning to turn their focus towards the timeless ritual of exchanging gifts.  Although this may be the most wonderful time of the year—especially for those young children eagerly anticipating a present or two— consumers may not realize that sometimes even the most innocuous gift may pose a hazard far worse than any lump of coal.

According to statistics from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, (CPSC), an estimated 262,300 toy-related injuries merited a trip to the emergency room in 2011.  The vast majority of these injuries—seventy-four percent—involved children under the age of fifteen.  In addition, the CPSC, working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, seized record amounts of unsafe products at U.S ports in fiscal year 2012; more than two million units of toys and children’s products either posed safety hazards to U.S consumers or failed to meet federal safety standards.

Before you mutter, “Bah! Humbug!” you should know that one can go a long way towards safeguarding young recipients of holiday generosity by reading and following the CPSC’s tips and publications available at http://www.cpsc.gov/.  Browsing the CPSC’s website while you are nestled snugly in bed, or near a (safely-maintained) fireplace, will reveal what you need to know about voluntary and mandatory safety standards, product bans and recalls (Yes, the CPSC does keep a list, and they do check it twice), and potential product hazards, such as those detailed in the CPSC’s Four Keys to Holiday Safety: 

• For children under the age of three, avoid toys with small parts, which can cause choking.
• Select toys to suit the age, abilities, skills and interest level of the intended child.
• For children under the age of eight, avoid toys with sharp edges and electric toys with heating parts.
• Look for labels with age and safety advice.

In addition to information provided by the CPSC directly, consumers can also read reports written by other consumers involving harm or a risk of harm related to the use of a consumer product via the CPSC’s searchable online database, http://SaferProducts.gov.  And if you, or someone you know, experience harm or a risk of harm related to the use of a consumer product, you can submit a report to the CPSC’s database as well.  If published, the CPSC, the public, and product manufacturers will have the opportunity to read your report online. 

As a final reassurance that you can safely enjoy this holiday season, the Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch routinely assists the CPSC in its enforcement work by initiating civil or criminal litigation when retailers or manufacturers distribute goods that fail to comply with pertinent standards or labeling requirements or fail to report to the CPSC when they learn of a defect or product safety hazard.

Just remember that if you are well-informed about the types of gifts, toys, and consumer products you are giving, as well as who should and should not receive them, you are bound to have a very happy, enjoyable, and safe holiday season!

The following post appears courtesy of Roy L. Austin Jr.,  the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice

Last week, I attended the Ninth Anniversary of the National Center for Transgender Equality in Washington, D.C., and delivered remarks about the Obama Administration’s commitment to safety and justice for all Americans, including transgender Americans.

LGBT equality has been a top priority of the Obama Administration and Attorney General Eric Holder. As President Barack Obama said in October 2011:

“Every single American – gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, transgender – every single American deserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of our society. It’s a pretty simple proposition.”

The Justice Department has a number of tools at our disposal to meet this important goal. In the Civil Rights Division, one way we do this is by ensuring that law enforcement officials treat everyone equally and are not violating the constitutional rights of the people they serve. The vast majority of police departments around the country work tirelessly to protect the civil and constitutional rights of the communities they serve. But when systematic problems emerge in a police department, the Civil Rights Division uses its statutory authority to hold them accountable, and to galvanize and institutionalize meaningful reform. 

For example, after an investigation of the New Orleans Police Department, the Division found that, among other things, police officers were discriminating against and disproportionately punishing transgender individuals. To address these concerns, the police department will now be specifically trained on working with transgender individuals as part of an agreement we reached with the city of New Orleans in July. Puerto Rico has similar issues with violence and discrimination against LGBT individuals. We are working with the Puerto Rico Police Department to ensure better investigation of these crimes and to ensure that the police department treats victims and witnesses with respect.

We also investigate, address, and work to prevent hate crimes, including those targeting the LGBT community. The Justice Department enforces the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which President Obama signed into law in October 2009.  To date, we have brought 16 cases and charged 40 defendants under the Shepard-Byrd Act in 11 different states across the country. Thirty-six of those defendants have been convicted on a hate crime or a serious hate crime related charge, and five of these cases have involved the convictions of persons who physically attacked others due to their actual or perceived sexual orientation.

Another significant accomplishment to come from the Shepard-Byrd Act has been the Department’s outreach. Since the enactment of Shepard-Byrd, the Department has provided hate crimes training to thousands of law enforcement officers and community activists around the country. We have made it clear what people should do when they believe that they have been a victim of or witness to a hate crime. And we have worked with law enforcement on the ways to properly investigate hate crimes. Among other things, this education spreads the message that our transgender community is a vital part of the American community and must be treated with respect. 

Finally, we have led efforts to address the bullying and harassment that touches the lives of countless kids, their families, and their communities every school year. As we’ve seen all too clearly – and as many of us know from our own experience – bullying can have a devastating, and potentially lifelong, impact. Nearly one in three middle and high school students report being bullied, and over half of our children report that they witness bullying in school. For gender non-conforming and transgender students, it can be much worse.

The Administration takes this issue very seriously. Last year at the White House, the President and the First Lady held a conference on bullying and harassment in schools. The President has made clear that he doesn’t accept the idea that bullying is just part of growing up; rather, every child has a right to receive an education without fearing for their safety. 

The Civil Rights Division is using every tool available to us to respond. We protect the rights of students who are being harassed because of their race, national origin, religion, disability, or sex – including if they are being harassed because they don’t act how their peers think a boy or girl is supposed to act.  Through this work we are seeing that two communities face a disproportionate amount of bullying and harassment in schools: Muslim students, and LGBT students.  And not only members of these communities—but also those who are perceived to belong to these communities—are at increased risk of being bullied. 

Together with our federal partners like the Department of Education, we are exploring ways to hold schools accountable, and to stop harassment and bullying before it starts. This includes efforts in Tehachapi, California, where 13-year-old Seth Walsh, who was openly gay, took his own life after suffering verbal, physical and sexual harassment in school for over two years. Although the settlement we reached with the school district comes too late to help Seth, it hopefully will prevent harassment and bullying from recurring and create a more positive environment for all students in his district, as well as send a message nationwide.

All of these actions and policies are certainly promising steps in the right direction, but we also recognize there is still much work to be done. The Justice Department remains committed to equality under the law and will continue to be central to that effort over the years to come.

The following post appears courtesy of the Civil Rights Division.

Last week the Department of Justice formally recognized Native American Heritage Month with a program based on this year’s theme “Serving Our People, Serving Our Nation: Native Visions for Future Generations.”  As this month of special recognition of American Indian and Alaska Native peoples comes to a close, it is important to remember that the best way we can honor the contributions of tribal communities is through ongoing collaboration and effective enforcement of the civil rights of Native Americans throughout the country.  The department’s work in this area is a year-round effort, with the active engagement of the Civil Rights Division’s Indian Working Group.

For too long, Native Americans have experienced discrimination and injustice, and the federal government can and must stop such discrimination.  The Indian Working Group, with representatives from every section of the division, is a critical tool in that work.  This collaborative effort elevates enforcement, outreach, and educational opportunities concerning Native American issues within the division, within the department, and throughout the country. 

The Indian Working Group is just one tool within the Civil Rights Division when it comes to reducing crime and advancing public safety in Native American communities and the Division continues to increase the number of cases affecting Native Americans.

The department confronts daily challenges to the civil rights of Native Americans, including vicious assaults born of hatred, and threats used to drive Native Americans out of their homes. In parts of Indian country, rates of violent crime are two times, four times, even ten times what they are in other communities.  One in three Indian women reports having been raped.  This is profoundly disturbing, and completely unacceptable.

A core part of safe communities is an effective, accountable police department that reduces crime, ensures respect for the Constitution, and earns the trust of the public it is charged with protecting.  This summer, the department  reached a comprehensive agreement with the City of Seattle regarding the Seattle Police Department’s use of excessive force and concerns about discriminatory policing. Seattle must create a Community Police Commission and invite Native American community input on the Seattle Police Department’s training requirements and policies.

The Civil Rights Division’s first case under the 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was in New Mexico, where the department successfully prosecuted a group of men who assaulted a 22-year-old Navajo man with a developmental disability and defaced his body with white supremacist and anti-Native American symbols.

The division enforces laws that protect the freedom to practice one’s religion, free from discrimination or persecution while incarcerated. In September, the District Court in South Dakota agreed with us that Native American inmates must be permitted to use tobacco in religious ceremonies in prison, without second-guessing whether tobacco is traditional to Native American religious practices.

In 2010, when minorities were hit particularly hard by the housing crisis, we created a Fair Lending Unit to address credit discrimination.  Particularly in communities where unemployment rates were already high, as with many Native American communities, it is critical that we remain vigilant in enforcing fair housing and fair lending laws to ensure they do not suffer even further.

Using our authority under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, we work to ensure state courts and other federally funded programs are free of discrimination and accessible to everyone, regardless of language – including Native Americans.

Finally, the division continues to enforce and defend the laws that enable access to the paramount expression of our democracy – the equal right to vote. The division enforces federal voting laws that protect Native Americans from discrimination based on race or membership in a language minority group.  We have been active in enforcing and defending voting laws in Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, and Alaska. 

We do this work, not only because it is our legal responsibility as a government, but because it is our moral responsibility as members of a broader community.  We have the rule of  law and the will of the federal government behind us and we will continue to protect the civil rights of American Indians and Alaska Natives.

For more information on the Civil Rights Division efforts, you may contact the Indian Working Group at indianrights.workinggroup@usdoj.gov.

For information about the department’s wide array of efforts in tribal communities, please visit justice.gov/tribal.

On World AIDS Day 2012, the Department of Justice is proud to reaffirm its ongoing commitment to protect – and advance – the rights of people living with HIV and AIDS.  And – in accordance with the objectives outlined by President Obama in the landmark National HIV/AIDS Strategy, we are working harder than ever to end discrimination that is still routinely – and tragically – experienced by those with HIV/AIDS. 

In recognizing World AIDS Day 2012, Attorney General Holder stated:

“The Department of Justice is determined to combat stigma and stereotypes by improving awareness and educating more people about their rights and responsibilities under federal law.  Together with our partners under the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, we are committed to using every legal authority to ensure critical protections for individuals living with HIV/AIDS.”  

In pursuit of this goal, the department is taking critical steps to boost technical assistance, improve training, and expand outreach.  Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), we’re making historic strides to educate everyone on federal protections for people with disabilities, including those living with HIV/AIDS.  To that end, the department has published “Questions and Answers: The Americans with Disabilities Act and Persons with HIV/AIDS,” – not only to make sure that people with HIV/AIDS understand their rights – but also to inform employers, businesses, and state and local governments of their responsibilities and legal obligations under the ADA. 

Beyond that, the department is pledging its best efforts – through its rigorous and ever-expanding enforcement work – to promote opportunity and access for persons with HIV/AIDS.  In May, the Justice Department announced two settlements resolving claims that health care providers refused to serve people with HIV in violation of the ADA.  Both settlement agreements mandated that the entities develop and implement a non-discrimination policy, train staff on the requirements of the ADA, and to pay a combined total of $60,000 to the complainants and $35,000 as a civil penalty.

And this past September, the Justice Department – together with the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania – reached a settlement with the Milton Hershey School of Hershey, Pennsylvania to resolve allegations that the school violated the ADA by rejecting an HIV-positive student.  In addition to a $15,000 civil penalty, the school was also required – under the terms of the settlement – to pay $700,000 to the child and his mother, adopt and enforce a policy prohibiting discrimination and requiring equal opportunity for students with disabilities (including those with HIV), and provide training to staff on the requirements established by the ADA. 

On World AIDS Day 2012, the Justice Department will continue to engage a growing circle of allies and use every available resource to develop long-term strategies for success.  To learn more about our work, please visit www.ada.gov/aids.