Department of Justice SealDepartment of Justice
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
OPA
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888

Statement by Peter A. Carr, Acting Director of Public Affairs, Regarding Report on Civil Rights Division Hiring

"Today’s report describes troubling conduct by a former supervisor in the Civil Rights Division prior to his departure from the Division nearly three years ago. The mission of the Justice Department is the evenhanded application of the Constitution and the laws enacted under it, and that mission has to start with the evenhanded application of the laws within our own Department. As today’s report makes clear, Mr. Schlozman deviated from that strict standard.

"The Department agrees with the recommendations outlined in the report and has already taken steps to implement them. In addition, the Civil Rights Division has taken additional steps to update its own hiring policies and to increase the role of career employees in its hiring process. As a result of these reforms, and the procedures already in place for evaluating the work and conduct of lawyers throughout the Department, we are confident that the institutional problems identified in today’s report no longer exist and will not recur."

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09-029