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Civil Rights

Civil Rights

The U.S. Attorney's Office is committed to the aggressive enforcement of federal civil rights laws in the Eastern District of Kentucky and prosecutes numerous cases each year. The Office divides the cases between two Divisions: Criminal and Affirmative Civil Enforcement. With limited exceptions, the U.S. Attorney's Office represents the United States of America, not any specific individual.

Criminal Enforcement

Attorneys in the Office’s Criminal Division investigate and prosecute violations of federal criminal civil rights laws.  These include:

  • The use of unreasonable force by law enforcement (including police, jail, and prison officials of all kinds)
  • Other misconduct by individuals acting under color of law that deprives an individual of their rights under the Constitution (such as sexual assaults, illegal searches, wrongful arrests, or failing to protect those in their custody)
  • Hate crimes or bias-motivated crimes committed based on the victim’s actual or perceived race, color, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 249
  • Intentional damage or destruction to religious property because of its religious nature and using force or threats to obstruct a victim’s right to freely exercise their religious beliefs
  • Using force, threat of force, or physical obstruction to prevent entry into a reproductive health facility and damaging any property of a reproductive health facility because it provides reproductive health services

The FBI is the primary federal law enforcement agency responsible for investigating allegations regarding violations of federal civil rights statutes. Individuals reporting a hate crime or criminal threat can call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or report online at www.fbi.gov/tips. Anyone facing imminent harm should call 911.

AUSA Zach Dembo is the Office’s Civil Rights Coordinator for criminal matters.

 

Civil Enforcement

Attorneys in the Office’s Affirmative Civil Enforcement (ACE) unit enforce federal civil laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation, religion, disability, military status, and other protected characteristics in the areas of education, housing, transportation, and employment, among others. Some of the civil rights statutes ACE enforces include the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act, and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act, as well as laws that prohibit patterns or practices of police misconduct, protect the rights of English Language Learners in schools, and prohibit bullying and harassment.

The Office welcomes information from the public regarding possible civil rights violations. Members of the public should know that the authority of the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and seek relief for individual complaining parties for alleged civil rights violations is limited. The Office may investigate and seek to remedy alleged discriminatory conduct only where specifically authorized by law, and generally does not have the authority to represent individuals in their pursuit of private civil rights claims.

Additionally, when the Office handles individual civil rights cases, it is most often only after they have been investigated and referred to us by another federal agency, such as the following:

If you have information concerning a potential violation of federal civil rights laws that you wish to bring to our attention, please submit a report online with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. Alternatively, anyone wishing to report a potential violation of federal civil rights laws can submit the Office’s Civil Rights Complaint Form by email to usakye.civilrights@usdoj.gov or by mail to: United States Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Kentucky, Attn: Civil Rights Intake, 260 West Vine Street, Suite 300 Lexington, KY 40507-1612. Reports can also be made by phone by leaving a message at 859-685-4880.

AUSA Carrie Pond is the Office’s Civil Rights Coordinator for civil matters.

 
Updated March 18, 2025