The
Justice
Department’s
Civil
Rights
Division,
helmed
by
Harmeet
Dhillon,
just
filed
a
14-page
joint
motion
to
terminate
the
consent
decree
with
the
Springfield,
Massachusetts
Police
Department
with
a
giant
gray
“DRAFT”
watermark
plastered
diagonally
across
every
single
page.
You
cannot,
as
they
say,
make
this
up,
folks.
Under
Dhillon’s
leadership,
the
Civil
Rights
Division
has
endured
mass
defections
owing
to
its
chief’s
avowed
mission
to
contort
the
Justice
Department’s
storied
civil
rights
legacy
into
ambulance
chasers
for
mediocre
white
men
crying
“reverse
discrimination.”
While
the
DOJ
faces
talent
shortages
across
the
board
—
it’s
why
the
once-prestigious
Department
now
recruits
off
candidates
sliding
into
Twitter
DMs
—
the
Civil
Rights
Division
has
(along
with
the
Public
Integrity
Section)
uniquely
suffered.
Roughly
70
percent
of
the
Civil
Rights
Division’s
attorneys
quit,
were
reassigned,
or
accepted
deferred
resignation
in
the
first
months
of
the
second
Trump
administration.
And
that’s
how
you
end
up
filing
drafts.
A
lot
of
hands
touch
a
legal
filing,
and
it’s
important
to
make
sure
no
one
accidentally
files
the
wrong
version.
A
sound
document
management
platform
can
do
wonders,
but
if
lawyers
want
a
belt-and-suspenders
approach,
visibly
and
garishly
marking
the
draft
version
can
prevent
accidental
filings.
That
said,
the
Wall
Street
Journal
once
wrote
that
Dhillon
told
them
that
“[she]
wakes
up
around
6
a.m.
and
begins
her
workday
scrolling
through
X,
searching
for
claims
of
discrimination,”
which
doesn’t
describe
a
workflow
defined
by
conscientious
attention
to
the
serious
work
of
the
Department.
The
Civil
Rights
Division
under
Dhillon
has
run
around
the
country
seeking
to
lift
consent
decrees
imposed
upon
local
law
enforcement
for
past
police
brutality
or
systematic
racial
discrimination.
In
the
instant
case,
the
Springfield,
Massachusetts
police
entered
the
agreement
in
April
2022
after
a
DOJ
investigation
found
a
pattern
of
excessive
force
in
its
narcotics
unit,
including
kicking
and
spitting
on
detained
juveniles.
The
consent
decree
included
a
four-year
timeframe
for
a
scheduled
reevaluation,
and
the
final
report
found
substantial
compliance.
So
the
DOJ
moved
to
lift
the
decree.
In
the
laziest
manner
possible.
This
is
an
embarrassing,
but
ultimately
superficial
mistake.
While
the
“DRAFT”
version
was
still
up
on
PACER
the
last
time
we
checked,
it’s
presumably
going
to
be
replaced
soon.
But
it’s
yet
another
indicia
of
the
DOJ’s
cratering
professionalism.
It’s
not
as
extreme
as
filing
a
motion
in
4th
grade
English
and
riddled
with
grammatical
errors,
or
bringing
criminal
charges
citing
the
wrong
legal
standard
over
a
bunch
of
sea
shells,
or
getting
caught
over
and
over
openly
lying
to
the
courts,
but
it’s
all
part
of
the
same
rich
tapestry.
This
is
an
institution
in
turmoil.
And
it’s
a
catastrophe
that
runs
at
the
macro
and
micro
level.
The
next
time
someone
in
this
administration
suggests
that
the
DOJ’s
talent
drought
just
means
that
it’s
being
run
more
efficiently
with
fewer
lawyers…
point
them
to
the
cover
page.
(Filing
—
or
at
least
the
Draft
Filing
—
on
the
next
page…)
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
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Bluesky
if
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Joe
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Managing
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