U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
The Civil Rights Division is the component of the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for enforcing federal civil rights law. It is recorded as an actor in its own right, separately from the Department, where an action is specifically the Division's. Entries naming it from 2025 onward record the investigations it opened and the enforcement positions it took, several under Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.
Also known as DOJ Civil Rights Division
2026 Events (17)
DOJ opened investigation into Nevada Secretary of State Aguilar over refusal to share unredacted voter data
On September 4, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, in a letter from acting voting-section chief Eric Neff, told Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar (D) that his office was under federal investigation for refusing to hand over the state's complete, unredacted voter registration list, and separately ordered Nevada to preserve all 2024 election records beyond the retention period federal law requires. The letter arrived about three weeks after a federal judge dismissed a DOJ lawsuit seeking the same voter data, a ruling DOJ is appealing. Aguilar, whose office is in Carson City, called the letter "a pretty direct threat" meant to intimidate him into complying.
U.S. Department of Justice sued Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools over transgender-student privacy policy, first such suit filed nationally
On September 1, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, joined by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas, filed a federal lawsuit against Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (USD 500), seeking an injunction against the district's internal guidance directing staff to help students socially transition at school without notifying or obtaining parental consent. DOJ called it the first such lawsuit it has filed nationally, following a July 2026 threat to sue and freeze the district's federal funding over the same policy. KCKPS said it is in full compliance with federal law and declined further comment given the pending litigation.
DOJ election observers exceeded legal scope, demanded records, sought voter interviews at Laramie County, Wyoming polls, clerk and governor say
During Wyoming's August 18, 2026 primary election, two U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division attorneys deployed to Laramie County questioned poll administrators about matters Clerk Debra Lee said were outside the scope of federal voting rights law, requested poll-worker training materials and equipment-acquisition records, sought to examine vote tabulators, and attempted to interview voters — a request Lee denied. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon subsequently asked Attorney General Ryan Schelhaas to examine whether the observers exceeded the authority Congress granted them.
DOJ whistleblower complaint alleged antisemitism task force rigged Harvard, Columbia and Brown Title VI probes to extract settlements
Former DOJ Civil Rights Division attorney Haley Van Erem filed a whistleblower complaint on August 18, 2026 with the DOJ and HHS inspectors general and the Office of Special Counsel, alleging that the interagency antisemitism task force's Title VI investigations of Harvard, Columbia and Brown had predetermined outcomes without factual or legal support and were marked by "extraordinary procedural irregularities." Van Erem, who worked on the task force before leaving DOJ in May 2025, said the effort was a "politically mandated" campaign to extract settlement money rather than enforce civil-rights law; Columbia settled for $200 million and Brown for $50 million, while a federal judge separately dismissed the related lawsuit against Harvard. A DOJ spokesperson said the department "stands behind the integrity" of the investigations.
Justice Department opened Title VI investigation into William & Mary's race-based scholarships
On August 17, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division announced it opened a Title VI compliance investigation into the College of William & Mary, a Virginia public university, over whether five scholarship and student-benefit programs use race-based criteria. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in a DOJ statement that "the Department will not turn a blind eye to race-based preferences, however they are packaged or portrayed by universities."
DOJ Civil Rights Division opened a civil-rights probe into a Brooklyn coffee shop that refused to serve Rep. Dan Goldman over his pro-Israel views
On June 22, 2026, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon announced that the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division had opened an investigation into Poetica Coffee, a Park Slope, Brooklyn shop that had refunded and publicly banned U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman over his support for Israel. Dhillon, posting on X, asserted that federal public-accommodations law bars discrimination by race, religion, or national origin and said the Department would bring enforcement action "if warranted."
DOJ Civil Rights Division opened a religious-discrimination inquiry into MLB and referred it to the EEOC over Giants' Pride Night Bible-verse caps
On June 18, 2026, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon sent Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred a letter asserting that MLB's warning to three San Francisco Giants pitchers—who wrote Bible verses on rainbow Pride Night caps—violated the players' religious rights under Title VII, and referred the matter to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Dhillon wrote that federal law bars MLB from making players with religious objections serve as the league's vehicle for pro-Pride messages and warned the Justice Department would use all available means to hold employers accountable. MLB had said its warning enforced a neutral rule barring any writing on caps.
DOJ Civil Rights Division opens 15 new race-discrimination probes into medical school admissions
On June 4, 2026, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division announced it had opened 15 new investigations into U.S. medical schools over alleged race discrimination in admissions, expanding a campaign that had already produced adverse findings against the medical schools of Yale University and UCLA. The Division said it would examine whether the schools — each a recipient of millions of dollars in federal funding — comply with Title VI as interpreted by the Supreme Court's 2023 decision restricting race-conscious admissions. The schools under investigation were not publicly named.
DOJ implements $68M Colony Ridge settlement without court approval after judge rejects deal
At an April 10, 2026 hearing in Houston, U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett refused to approve the Justice Department's proposed $68 million settlement with land developer Colony Ridge — sued in 2023 for deceiving tens of thousands of Hispanic buyers into predatory high-interest loans — because it contained no compensation for victims while earmarking more than $20 million for policing and immigration enforcement. When Bennett offered revisions to win his approval, DOJ refused, dismissed the case with prejudice, and implemented the settlement out of court, leaving no judicial supervision of compliance and extinguishing the victims' claims.
DOJ admits in Rhode Island filing that voter-data analysis it denied in court has begun
One day after telling a federal judge at argument in United States v. Amore that no analysis had been conducted on the nonpublic state voter registration data in its possession, DOJ's Civil Rights Division filed a "Clarification of Record" admitting that preliminary internal analysis had in fact begun — specifically, identifying and quantifying "duplicate and deceased" registered voters in each state. The correction came a day after CBS News revealed DOJ was finalizing a deal to share voter-roll data with DHS, and after DOJ attorneys had assured judges in Connecticut and Minnesota that the data was not being analyzed or shared.
DOJ opens Title VI probes into Stanford, Ohio State, and UC San Diego medical schools
On March 25, 2026, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division opened Title VI compliance-review investigations into the medical schools of Stanford University, the Ohio State University, and the University of California, San Diego, over alleged race discrimination in admissions. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon announced the probes, and the Division sent letters demanding seven years of applicant data — MCAT scores, GPAs, ZIP codes, family ties to alumni or donors, internal DEI communications, and correspondence with pharmaceutical companies — by an April 24, 2026 deadline, citing the schools' federal funding.
DOJ sues five more states for full voter rolls, bringing nationwide campaign to 29 states
On February 26, 2026, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division announced federal lawsuits against Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia, and New Jersey for failing to produce their full statewide voter registration lists, bringing the Department's nationwide total to 29 states and the District of Columbia. DOJ asserted authority under the Civil Rights Act of 1960 to compel production, inspection, and analysis of complete voter rolls — data that can include names, addresses, dates of birth, and partial Social Security or driver's license numbers — to cross-check for "improper registrations." The filings came after federal courts had dismissed several earlier DOJ voter-roll suits.
DOJ sues UCLA over antisemitism, escalating a pressure campaign nine of its own career attorneys resigned over
On February 24, 2026, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division sued the University of California under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, alleging UCLA maintained an antisemitic "hostile work environment" for Jewish and Israeli faculty and staff. The suit was the latest step in a federal pressure campaign rooted in UCLA's tolerance of a 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment: the administration had already suspended $584 million in UC research grants and sought a $1.2 billion fine, which a federal judge blocked in November 2025 as unconstitutional. Nine career Justice Department attorneys assigned to the underlying antisemitism investigation had resigned, describing pressure to reach a preordained conclusion on a 30-day timetable. It was the first of two 2026 DOJ antisemitism suits against the university.
DOJ Civil Rights Division opened investigations into three Michigan school districts over gender-identity curriculum
On February 18, 2026, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division announced investigations into the Lansing, Detroit, and Godfrey-Lee public school districts in Michigan, covering roughly 64,000 students, examining whether the districts taught sexual-orientation and gender-identity content without notifying parents of an opt-out right and whether they restricted bathrooms and locker rooms by biological sex. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said the department is "fiercely committed to ending the growing trend of local school authorities embedding sexuality and gender ideology in every aspect of public education." The department declined to explain why these three districts, of Michigan's more than 800, were selected.
Justice Department sued Harvard to compel production of admissions data
On February 13, 2026, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division sued Harvard University in federal court in Massachusetts, seeking an order compelling Harvard to turn over five years of undergraduate, medical-school, and law-school admissions data -- including grades, test scores, essays, and race/ethnicity -- that DOJ had demanded since opening a compliance review in April 2025. DOJ said Harvard had "thwarted" the investigation into whether the university continued considering race in admissions after the Supreme Court barred affirmative action; Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon called Harvard's refusal "a red flag." Harvard said it has been responding to the government's requests and is in compliance with the Supreme Court's ruling, and characterized the suit as "retaliatory actions" tied to its earlier refusal to accept a list of administration demands.
DOJ sued Arizona and Connecticut to compel release of unredacted, sensitive voter roll data
On January 6, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division sued Arizona and Connecticut in federal court, seeking to compel both states to produce their complete, unredacted voter registration lists, including voters' full birthdates and full or partial Social Security and driver's-license numbers. The suits brought DOJ's nationwide campaign to 23 states and the District of Columbia; Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes had already rejected three DOJ requests for the data and told a department attorney to "pound sand." Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said the lawsuits were needed to enforce federal election-integrity law.
DOJ demanded Minnesota's same-day voter registration and 'vouching' records over HAVA compliance concerns
On January 2, 2026, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon sent Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon a letter demanding records on the state's same-day voter registration and "vouching" system, in which a registered voter can attest to a new voter's residency, citing the 1960 Civil Rights Act and claiming the practice "seems facially inconsistent" with the Help America Vote Act. Minnesota's Office of the Secretary of State refused the demand on January 16, 2026, saying DOJ had identified no legal basis for the request and no evidence the state's practices violate federal law, and offered training materials on the process instead.
2025 Events (3)
Alaska signed confidential DOJ agreement enabling federal flagging of individual voters for removal
Alaska Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher and U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon signed a "confidential memorandum of understanding" on December 19, 2025, alongside Alaska turning over a copy of its voter rolls to the Justice Department. The agreement lets DOJ's Civil Rights Division notify Alaska of individual "voter list maintenance issues," requiring the state to act on that notice within 45 days by moving flagged voters toward removal and reporting back to DOJ. State officials dispute that the agreement permits DOJ to directly purge voters or that Alaska requested the arrangement; at least 11 other states have signed materially identical agreements.
DOJ sued Oregon to compel release of unredacted, sensitive voter roll data
On September 16, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division sued Oregon and Secretary of State Tobias Read, seeking to compel disclosure of the state's complete unredacted voter registration list, including birth dates, driver's-license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers, and alleging violations of the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. The suit was part of a broader DOJ campaign that went on to demand voter data from dozens of states. A federal judge dismissed the Oregon suit on January 26, 2026, after Attorney General Pam Bondi sent Minnesota's governor a letter suggesting the data would be used to advance the administration's immigration-enforcement agenda.
Trump signed EO 14288 directing DOJ to rescind police-reform consent decrees and threaten prosecution of local officials for DEI policing
On April 28, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14288, directing the Attorney General to review and rescind DOJ Civil Rights Division consent decrees with local police departments and to pursue prosecution of local officials whose DEI-based policing policies the administration deems unlawful. The EO also directed the Department of Defense to identify how military assets and personnel could be used for domestic crime prevention. Implementation was immediate: the Civil Rights Division dismissed pending consent decrees in Minneapolis and Louisville, retracted violation findings in six other cities, and approximately 70 percent of Civil Rights Division staff were expected to resign or be removed.