The U.S. Attorney’s Office of Montana has hired a prosecutor to focus solely on civil rights cases, both civil and criminal.Montana's population is 90 percent white, 6 percent Indians, and four percent everyone else, of which the largest population is Asian at .5 percent. It's obviously a festering sore of racial tensions, which is why they need a full-time prosecutor to handle the problem.
"We’ve always done them, but we’ve not had a dedicated position, so we’ve had to partner with main Justice and the Civil Rights Division" in Washington, DC, said U.S. Attorney Mike Cotter. "With this particular position, we’ll have a greater capacity to handle these cases."
The hire, one of several similar appointments around the country, was part of a last-ditch effort by outgoing Attorney General Loretta Lynch to protect the Justice Department's ability to prosecute civil rights cases in the Trump Administration.
Decentralizing the civil-rights effort is seen by some as a way to keep boots on the ground even if the Washington office of the Civil Rights Division is greatly reduced.
The Montana announcement is in stark contrast to initial media reports that President Donald Trump may be planning to scale back the Civil Rights Division. Critics have cast Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions as a potential barrier to civil rights prosecutions, which he has denied.
American civil rights laws are far-reaching and broad, covering hate crimes; discrimination, including for jobs, housing or loans; and violations of rights, such as voting or for members of the military. In some cases, federal law includes more protected groups than the state. For instance, Montana law does not cover discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Yet...