• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Events
  • Civic Ed
  • Campaign Finance
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • Independent Voter News
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Big Picture>
  3. voting rights>

Biden taps voting rights advocate Kristen Clarke for senior DOJ role

Sara Swann
https://twitter.com/saramswann?lang=en
January 07, 2021
Kristen Clarke
Jim Watson/Getty Images

Kristen Clarke, a prominent voting and civil rights advocate, was nominated Thursday to serve as President-elect Joe Biden's assistant attorney general for civil rights.

If confirmed by the Senate, Clarke will lead the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, helping to enforce civil rights laws and ensure equal justice for all Americans. She currently serves as president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a national nonprofit that played a critical role during the 2020 elections.

The Lawyers' Committee helped voters navigate changes brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, understand voting procedures and safeguard against voter intimidation. The organization's Election Protection hotline, available in 11 languages, fielded a record-high 229,000 calls by Nov. 3.


"This job is about justice. It's about equality. And under our DOJ, we'll move closer to the TRUE meaning of equal justice under law," Clarke tweeted, adding that she was honored to have been nominated.

Clarke is no stranger to the Justice Department. Before leading the Lawyers' Committee, she was an attorney in the Civil Rights Division and a federal prosecutor in its Criminal Section. While there, she worked on cases involving hate crimes, human trafficking and police misconduct. She also worked in the Voting Section on voting rights and redistricting issues.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

This job is about justice. It’s about equality. And under our DOJ, we'll move closer to the TRUE meaning of equal j… https://t.co/bYl4aB7Qv2
— Kristen Clarke (@Kristen Clarke) 1610027893.0

Previously, she worked in the Civil Rights Bureau of the New York State Attorney General's Office and at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

"Kristen Clarke is a force of nature. She has been working tirelessly, around the clock, morning, noon and night to ensure that all Americans share the same rights and privileges as equal members of our society," said Shira Scheindlin, a federal judge in New York and co-chair of the Lawyers' Committee's board.

From Your Site Articles
  • The army of lawyers ready to protect the election - The Fulcrum ›
  • Civil rights groups, prosecutors prepare for Election Day - The Fulcrum ›
  • Congressional Hearing: The Impact Of Covid-19 On Voting Rights ... ›
  • Biden, DOJ, academics counter Trump's attacks on democracy - The Fulcrum ›
  • Two voting rights players upbraided by courts - The Fulcrum ›
  • Protecting voting rights law requires army of lawyers - The Fulcrum ›
  • Five key stories about democracy - The Fulcrum ›
  • Kristen Clarke assumes the role Lani Guinier was denied - The Fulcrum ›
  • Biden adds voting rights experts to administration, courts - The Fulcrum ›
  • Joe Biden’s voting rights strategy comes into focus - The Fulcrum ›
  • Voting rights advocates call for filibuster reform - The Fulcrum ›
Related Articles Around the Web
  • Biden Said to Pick Merrick Garland as Attorney General - The New ... ›
  • Merrick Garland Is To Be Joe Biden's Nominee For Attorney General ... ›
  • President-elect Biden Announces Key Nominations for the ... ›
voting rights

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Follow
Contributors

Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

Layla Zaidane

Two technology balancing acts

Dave Anderson

Reform in 2023: It’s time for the civil rights community to embrace independent voters

Jeremy Gruber

Congress’ fix to presidential votes lights the way for broader election reform

Kevin Johnson

Democrats and Republicans want the status quo, but we need to move Forward

Christine Todd Whitman

Reform in 2023: Building a beacon of hope in Boston

Henry Santana
Jerren Chang
latest News

Your Take: Religious beliefs

Our Staff
03 February

Remembering the four chaplains eighty years later

Rabbi Charles Savenor
03 February

Podcast: Anti-racism: The pro-human approach

Our Staff
03 February

Ron DeSantis and the rise of political racism

Lawrence Goldstone
02 February

Curriculum regulations and book bans: Modern day anti-literacy laws?

Katherine Kapustka
02 February

Podcast: 2024 Senate: Democrats have a lot of defending to do

Our Staff
02 February
Videos

Video: The dignity index

Our Staff

Video: The Supreme Court and originalism

Our Staff

Video: How the baby boom changed American politics

Our Staff

Video: What the speakership election tells us about the 118th Congress webinar

Our Staff

Video: We need more bipartisan commitment to democracy: Pennsylvania governor

Our Staff

Video: Meet the citizen activists championing primary reform

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Anti-racism: The pro-human approach

Our Staff
03 February

Podcast: 2024 Senate: Democrats have a lot of defending to do

Our Staff
02 February

Podcast: Collage: The promise of Black History Month

Our Staff
01 February

Podcast: Separating news from noise

Our Staff
30 January
Recommended
Your Take: Religious beliefs

Your Take: Religious beliefs

Your Take
Remembering the four chaplains eighty years later

Remembering the four chaplains eighty years later

Civic Ed
Podcast: Anti-racism: The pro-human approach

Podcast: Anti-racism: The pro-human approach

Podcasts
Video: The dignity index

Video: The dignity index

Ron DeSantis and the rise of political racism

Ron DeSantis and the rise of political racism

Big Picture
Curriculum regulations and book bans: Modern day anti-literacy laws?

Curriculum regulations and book bans: Modern day anti-literacy laws?

Big Picture