Overview
- The Justice Department finalized and implemented a Title VI rule that limits enforcement to intentional discrimination, with a Federal Register notice stating attorneys will not pursue disparate-impact liability.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Civil Rights Division will concentrate on deliberate discrimination, and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon argued prior rules encouraged challenges to neutral policies without proof of intent.
- The rule rescinds regulatory language that supported disparate-impact theories and some affirmative-action measures, though statistical disparities may still be used as evidence to help prove intent.
- Title VII remains unchanged and still allows disparate-impact claims, and some state and local laws continue to recognize disparate-impact liability.
- Civil-rights advocates warn the shift weakens tools to address systemic disparities, supporters call it a correction to statutory limits, and analysts expect court challenges and policy debates to follow.