Kristen Clarke facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kristen Clarke
United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division
In office May 25, 2021 – January 20, 2025
President	Joe Biden
Preceded by	Eric Dreiband
Succeeded by	TBC
Personal details
Born	1975 (age 49–50)
Education	Harvard University (BA) Columbia University (JD)

Kristen M. Clarke (born in 1975) is an American lawyer. From 2021 to 2025, she worked as the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the United States Department of Justice. This division works to protect the civil rights of all Americans.

Before this role, Clarke was the president of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. She also led the Civil Rights Bureau in the New York State Attorney General's Office.

In 2021, President Joe Biden chose Kristen Clarke to lead the Civil Rights Division. The U.S. Senate approved her for the job on May 25, 2021. She made history as the first woman to lead this important division.

Kristen Clarke's Early Life and Education

Kristen Clarke's parents moved to Brooklyn, New York, from Jamaica. She has shared that she grew up in a home that taught her to work hard and make the most of every chance.

Clarke was part of Prep for Prep, a group that helps students of color get into private schools. She went to Choate Rosemary Hall, a boarding school. There, she was the only girl on the boys' wrestling team! In 2017, she received an award from her old school. She told students to imagine and work for "a world with more justice, greater fairness, and equal access."

Clarke earned her first degree from Harvard University. While there, she was the president of the Black Student's Association. She then got her law degree (called a Juris Doctor) from Columbia Law School in 2000. After finishing law school, she worked as a trial lawyer in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Kristen Clarke's Legal Career

In 2006, Clarke joined the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. This group works to protect civil rights through legal action. She focused on voting rights and changing election laws.

In 2011, she became the director of the civil rights bureau for the New York State Attorney General. In this role, she worked on issues like fairness in the justice system and stopping housing discrimination. Her work led to agreements with stores about stopping racial profiling. She also worked with police departments on policy changes and with schools to prevent the "school-to-prison pipeline." This is a system where students are pushed out of school and into the justice system.

In 2015, Clarke became the president of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. One of her first big jobs was leading "Election Protection." This group works to make sure everyone can vote fairly. The New York Times called her "one of the nation's foremost advocates for voting rights protections."

In 2019, Clarke helped Taylor Dumpson. Taylor was the first African American woman student body president at American University. She was targeted by online harassment. Clarke successfully argued that hateful online attacks can stop people from using public places. She won damages and a court order to protect Taylor.

In early 2020, Clarke spoke about how the COVID-19 pandemic was hitting African American communities the hardest. She worried that racial bias might affect their access to testing and healthcare. After the murder of George Floyd, she said the pandemic, job losses, and police unfairness created a "perfect storm" for social unrest in the United States.

Protecting Voting Rights

Clarke has worked hard to protect the right to vote. She was involved in a major court case called Shelby County v. Holder, which was about voting rights. In 2020, she spoke to Congress about problems people face when trying to vote. She has pushed for a law called the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to help protect voting rights. She also sued the United States Postal Service during the pandemic because of delays with mail-in ballots. After civil rights leader John Lewis passed away, she called for a new law to honor his life and restore voting rights protections. She appeared in the 2020 documentary All In: The Fight for Democracy.

Supporting LGBTQ Rights

In 2015, Clarke started an investigation into the Boy Scouts. She looked into their rule against openly gay adults serving as leaders. Her goal was to make sure everyone, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, had equal protection under the law. In July 2015, her office reached an agreement with the Boy Scouts of America. This agreement ended their policy of not allowing openly gay adults to be leaders across the country.

Advocating for Disability Rights

Clarke also worked to secure agreements that helped people with disabilities. These agreements involved bus companies, large stores, movie theaters, and polling places, making them more accessible for everyone.

Ensuring Religious Rights

Clarke helped reach agreements that protected religious rights. For example, she helped employees at the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation get their religious needs met at work, following state and federal laws.

Helping Immigrants

She supported a legal effort for Cesar Vargas, who became the first immigrant without legal status to get a law license in New York. She also successfully sued the Trump administration when it tried to end a program that protected Liberian Americans from deportation.

Fighting Hate Speech

Clarke supported Facebook's decision to ban hate speech, including messages that promote white nationalism. Her work also led to a temporary shutdown of the Stormfront website, which is a white supremacist site. She told Congress that white nationalism is a "life-and-death matter" for many people.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Division

Her Nomination

On January 7, 2021, President Joe Biden chose Kristen Clarke to lead the Civil Rights Division. Clarke said that if she was approved, they would "turn the page on hate and close the door on discrimination."

Many groups supported her nomination. These included law enforcement groups, Jewish organizations, and former Justice Department officials.

However, some people criticized her. They brought up an article she wrote in college for The Harvard Crimson. In it, she used satire to argue against racist theories. She later said the article was meant to fight "one ridiculous absurd racist theory with another ridiculous absurd theory." She also apologized for inviting a professor, Tony Martin, to speak in 1994, saying she wouldn't do it again.

During her approval hearing, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Clarke's skills would help fight discrimination in housing, education, and jobs. Some senators criticized her for past statements about "Defunding the Police." Clarke explained that she supports increasing police funding, but also wants more money for social services.

Her nomination was first tied in a Senate committee vote. But on May 18, 2021, the Senate voted to move her nomination forward. She was then approved on May 25, 2021, by a vote of 51 to 48.

Her Time in Office

On June 25, 2021, it was reported that Clarke would join Vanita Gupta in suing the State of Georgia. This lawsuit was about the Election Integrity Act of 2021, a law the state had passed.

Awards and Honors

• 2010 Columbia Law School Paul Robeson Distinguished Alumni Award
• 2010 National Black Law Students Association Alumni of the Year
• 2011 National Bar Association Top 40 Under 40
• 2012 National Association of Attorneys General Best Brief Award
• 2015 New York Law Journal Rising Stars
• 2017 Choate Rosemary Hall Alumni Award
• 2017 Quinnipiac University School of Law Thurgood Marshall Award
• 2018 Louis L. Redding Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2019 The Root Most Influential Americans

Images for kids

• 

  Kristen Clarke's official photo.

See also

• Joe Biden Supreme Court candidates