Biden Administration to Appoint Kristen Clarke to Key Civil Rights Publish – Los Angeles Sentinel | Los Angeles Sentinel

Kristen Clarke has extensive civil rights experience and began her career as a lawyer in the Department of Civil Rights at the Department of Justice. (Courtesy photo)

Kristen Clarke, president of the Civil Rights Under Law Advisory Committee, will serve as assistant attorney general for civil rights under the new Biden administration.

Clarke’s appointment adds even more diversity to a new administration that has kept its campaign promises to ensure top staff and cabinet members reflect across America.

“Our first-class candidates to lead the Department of Justice are excellently qualified, embodied in a blameless character and judgment, and have dedicated their careers to serving the American people with honor and integrity,” Biden said in a statement.

“They will restore the department’s independence so that it serves the interests of the people rather than a presidency, restore public confidence in the rule of law, and work tirelessly to ensure a fairer and more equitable judicial system.”

Clarke has extensive civil rights experience and began her career as an attorney in the Department of Civil Rights at the Department of Justice.

During his tenure at the DOJ, the Brooklyn-born attorney served as a federal attorney in the Criminal Investigation Department responsible for police misconduct, hate crimes, and human trafficking.

Through the voting division of the department, she also worked on voting rights and case redistribution.

The current president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee on Civil Rights Under the Act, Clarke, was also the director of the New York Attorney General’s Civil Rights Office, where she successfully led pioneering efforts to combat discrimination in housing. the school-to-prison pipeline and law enforcement reform practices and policies.

Clarke previously worked for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, focusing on voting rights and the right to vote.

Clarke received her AB from Harvard University and her JD from Columbia Law School.