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Civil Rights Enforcement

The United States Attorney’s Office (USAO), in coordination with the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is responsible for enforcing the federal civil rights laws in the District of Idaho. The federal civil rights laws enforced by the USAO and the Civil Rights Division include the following:

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA)

Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)

Fair Housing Act (FHA)

Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE)

Police Misconduct provision of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 ("Section 14141")

Service Members Civil Relief Act (SCRA)

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 (EEOA)

Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act (USERRA)

Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA)

Voting Rights Act (VRA)

Immigration and Nationality Act (anti-discrimination provisions)

In addition, the USAO’s Criminal Division prosecutes violations of the criminal civil rights laws, including laws prohibiting hate crimes and the use of unreasonable force by those acting under color of law. The United States Department of Justice welcomes information from the public that brings to our attention possible violations of our nation's civil rights laws. At the same time, while the scope of our civil rights practice is broad, the authority of the United States Department of Justice to investigate and seek relief for individual complaining parties for alleged civil rights violations is limited. The Department of Justice and/or the USAO may investigate and seek to remedy alleged discriminatory conduct only where and in the manner specifically authorized by law. Accordingly, while the Department of Justice and the USAO have authority to investigate and seek to remedy patterns and practices of certain unlawful discriminatory conduct, we generally do not have the authority to represent individuals in their pursuit of private civil rights claims. More frequently, the Civil Rights Division and/or USAO handle individual civil rights cases only after they have been investigated and referred to us by another federal agency, such as the following:

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (for employment discrimination)

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (for housing discrimination)

United States Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (for discrimination in education)

United States Department of Labor (for violations of USERRA)

Office of Special Counsel (for immigration related unfair employment practices)

If you have information concerning a potential violation of the federal civil rights laws that you wish to bring to the Civil Rights Division’s attention, believe that you may have been a victim of a civil rights violation, or would like to file a civil rights complaint, you may click on the following link for additional information, including instructions and forms for submitting a complaint or reporting a potential civil rights violation: https://www.civilrights.justice.gov.  When appropriate, the Civil Rights Division staff will refer complainants to other agencies that are responsible for handling specific types of complaints.

Individuals who believe they are a victim of criminal violation of their civil rights, such as misconduct by law enforcement officers, a hate crime, or human trafficking, should contact their local FBI office.

If you have additional questions, you may contact the Civil Rights Division at (888) 736-5551 (toll free) or (202) 514-3847.

 

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Updated January 3, 2023