Today, Center for Policing Equity Co-founder and CEO Dr. Phillip Atiba Goff released the following statement on President-elect Joe Biden’s nomination of Vanita Gupta as Associate Attorney General and Kristen Clarke as the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
We offer our congratulations to Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke on their nominations as Associate Attorney General and Associate Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, respectively. Both are leaders who have spent their professional lives fighting for a more just and equitable society. President-elect Biden could not have selected more formidable leaders or defenders of civil rights for these critical roles.
Their groundbreaking nominations signal that the incoming administration is serious about safeguarding civil rights, advancing bold changes to our criminal legal systems, and protecting our most vulnerable communities. The nominees will commit to redesigning public safety, deploying resources to build up communities decimated by generations of disinvestment, particularly Black and Brown communities.
In Vanita Gupta, the President-elect has chosen one of the most respected civil rights attorneys of her generatioin to be the next Associate Attorney General. As Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the Obama administration, she partnered with the Center for Policing Equity to advance diversity in law enforcement through the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division-Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Under her direction, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights fought for fair and free elections and against mass incarceration. We applaud her as the first woman of color to hold this esteemed position.
Kristen Clarke has always translated her passion for justice into results, even when we first met over 25 years ago on the campus of Harvard University. For six years, she served as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division — which she will now lead — handling cases involving police misconduct, human trafficking, and voting rights. As the President & Executive Director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, she has been one of the nation’s foremost leaders in securing access to the ballot.
Restoring the integrity of the U.S. Department of Justice is one of the most urgent tasks facing the incoming administration. The Center for Policing Equity looks forward to working with these nominees, and will offer the whole of our resources every step of the way.