AP: Justice Dept. seeks stronger civil rights division

[Heidi]

Justice Dept. seeks stronger civil rights division
(AP) – 5 hours ago

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is moving forward with plans to expand its civil rights division, pursuing cases of discrimination in the workplace, housing and voting rights.

From his first day on the job, Attorney General Eric Holder has pledged to strengthen the Civil Rights Division he inherited from the Bush administration.

A scathing internal Justice Department report earlier this year found Bush administration officials politicized hiring and job assignments within the division, favoring conservatives whom one official called "real Americans."

At his confirmation hearing, Holder called the allegations disturbing and said the Obama administration was committed to an energetic and nonpartisan approach to the nation's civil rights laws.

He underscored those points in an interview in Tuesday's editions of The New York Times.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/us/politics/01rights.html?_r=1&hp">The NYT article