Civil Rights Needs Better Defender

William Lucas, the black lawyer nominated to be assistant attorney general for civil rights, has neither the legal experience nor the expertise to handle this important and sensitive job. The Senate Judiciary Committee should reject the nomination.

Although he earned a law degree in 1962, Lucas has never written a legal brief or tried a case. His experience has been in other fields, as a police officer, an FBI agent, a sheriff and chief executive of Michigan’s Wayne County.

Asked during Senate confirmation hearings to explain a distinction often made in school segregation cases, Lucas could not distinguish between de jure and de facto segregation. De jure segregation is illegal because it results from the passage of laws. De facto segregation is not illegal, resulting as it does from causes outside the law, such as housing patterns. Said Lucas: “I’m new to the law.” In our view, he is entirely too new to the law to preside over protection of civil rights.

Americans who face obstacles to decent jobs, housing and schools because of discrimination need an experienced, knowledgeable and aggressive assistant attorney general for civil rights. Minorities who encounter bias need a qualified lawyer who can quickly determine what suits the Justice Department should file, and who can aggressively supervise federal education, employment, housing and voting rights cases. In the wake of Supreme Court rulings that make it harder to initiate and win civil rights suits, minorities require a strong, astute advocate who can persuade the Bush Administration to strengthen--rather than simply monitor--existing federal protections.

President Bush and Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh hold moderate views on civil rights. Their choice for Justice’s civil rights job should reflect their commitment. William Lucas does not.