Civil rights advocates say Trump order guts US protections against discrimination

Donald Trump’s executive order on Wednesday eliminating “disparate-impact liability” from federal civil rights enforcement has sparked condemnation from legal and civil rights advocates who argue it guts protections that have shielded Americans from discrimination for decades.

The order directs federal agencies to immediately “deprioritize enforcement” of laws where policies have discriminatory effects, even without discriminatory intent – a cornerstone of modern civil rights protection. It also instructs the attorney general to begin repealing or amending regulations implementing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

“Disparate-impact liability imperils the effectiveness of civil rights laws by mandating, rather than proscribing, discrimination,” the order reads denouncing the concept as “a pernicious movement” threatening “the American Dream”.

In legal terms, disparate-impact liability allows people to challenge practices that appear neutral but disproportionately harm protected groups, without having to prove deliberate discrimination.

Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Women’s Law Center, blasted the move: “This executive order instructs the government to stop enforcing key civil rights protections in the workplace, at schools, and throughout society. A president does not have the power to take away core civil right protections with a flick of his wrist.”

The USC constitutional law professor Derek Black rejected the order’s reasoning, posting on X: “The administration fundamentally misstates basic law. If disparate-impact liability truly created ‘a near insurmountable presumption of unlawful discrimination’, we might have rid the country of disparities long ago.”

The sweeping directive requires all federal agencies to review pending cases and consent decrees based on disparate impact within 90 days and “take appropriate action” regarding pending investigations, civil suits, and consent judgments that rely on disparate-impact theories.