My Term on the Virginia Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

It was an odd four years because Covid pushed all hearings onto zoom, and then I wrote a concurrence to our report on police oversight and accountability.

At the end of June, I concluded a four-year term on one of the state committees that advise the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Few people are aware of these committees, whose members are unpaid, so here’s the boilerplate description:

By law, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has established an advisory committee in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories. The committees are composed of state citizens who serve without compensation. The committees advise the Commission of civil rights issues in their states that are within the Commission’s jurisdiction. They are authorized to advise the Commission in writing of any knowledge or information they have of any alleged deprivation of voting rights and alleged discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, national origin, or in the administration of justice; advise the Commission on matters of their state’s concern in the preparation of Commission reports to the President and the Congress; receive reports, suggestions, and recommendations from individuals, public officials, and representatives of public and private organizations to committee inquiries; forward advice and recommendations to the Commission, as requested; and observe any open hearing or conference conducted by the Commission in their states.

In practice, what these committees do is pick a subject that they plan to study by holding hearings and soliciting written testimony, and then compile their findings into reports. My committee decided to focus on police oversight and accountability, and you can read the report that was unanimously approved and published June 29 (which in turn links to an appendix of hearing transcripts and written submissions). I won’t attempt to summarize all that now, but I did have the opportunity to write a concurring opinion—the only separate writing of any of the 12 members—which I present to you here.