Commission on Civil Rights

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According to its website, the United States Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) was established by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 as an independent, bipartisan, fact-finding federal agency. The mission of the USCCR is to inform the development of national civil rights policy and enhance enforcement of federal civil rights laws. It pursues this mission by studying alleged deprivations of voting rights and alleged discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin, or in the administration of justice. Missing from this list is “military service,” protected by 18 USC § 1389.

The Commission has ignored Section 4712 of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA) of 2009, meaning it is denying military families of their Constitutional right to equal representation. In a 2019 briefing report titled “In the Name of Hate: Examining the Federal Government’s Role in Responding to Hate Crimes,” the Commission ignored Section 4712 of the Act, which created hate crimes protections for military families during their service and up to five years after discharge. These protections were made law at the same time as sections that created protections for sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability, so it is not clear why military families were left out of the Commission’s report. The precise number of individuals afected by this is unknown, but there are at least 4.8 million active status personnel and families affected. The number of veteran families within five years of discharge is harder to track, but is at least another several million.

2013 Military Civil Rights Briefing

On May 13, 2013, the USCCR convened a briefing to explore the question “Is the federal government adequately protecting the civil rights of our veterans and servicemembers who have fought for our rights?” Three panels, with 4-5 witnesses and a Q&A, were held over the course of the day, a comprehensive transcript of which is available HERE. No report was released as a result of thie briefing, but a FOIA request has been made for materials related developing this briefing by the USCCR.

Panel 1

The first panel included officials from federal agencies speaking about their enforcement of existing laws to protecting the civil rights of veterans and service members. Panelists included;

  1. Robert Jesse, deputy under secretary for health with Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

  2. Kenan Torrans, deputy director in the Department of Labor (DoL) Veterans Education & Training Service (VETS)

  3. Sharon Alexander, special assistant to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chairwoman

  4. Bryan Greene, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) general deputy assistant secretary for Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity (FHEO)

  5. Matt Boehmer, acting director of the Federal Voting and Assistance Program within the Department of Defense (DoD)

Panel 2

The second panel featured advocacy groups whose representatives discussed their programs’ assistance to veterans. Panelists included;

  1. Heather Ansley, Vice President of Veterans Policy for VetsFirst

  2. Albert Gonzales, National Commander with the American GI Forum

  3. Wendy McClinton, President and CEO of Black Veterans for Social Justice

  4. Danny Ingram, National President of American Veterans for Equal Rights

Panel 3

The third and final panel included veterans' advocates and other service members who spoke about how well the federal government was safeguarding their rights and providing needed benefits. Panelists included;

  1. Kamal Kalsi, United States Army major

  2. Sandra Strickland, Final Salute, Inc

  3. Elspeth Ritchie, chief medical officer with the DC Department of Mental Health

  4. Joseph Violante, National Legislative Director for Disabled American Veterans.