Carrying a big stick: Justice is Deval Patrick's strong suit

Black Enterprise, Oct, 1996 by Joyce Jones

By most accounts, Deval Patrick is not a man you want to mess around with, especially if you're the head of a large U.S. corporation charged with discriminatory practices. Despite his mild-mannered school teacher appearance, Patrick, assistant attorney general with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, has been known to go for the jugular--and other vital organs--when facing an opponent. "People don't trifle with us. Sometimes they try to, but not for too long," Patrick proudly says of his agency.

The division is the primary federal agency charged with enforcing U.S. civil rights laws. Its protection extends to a wide range of areas, including voting, education, employment, housing, the use of public accommodations and access to reproductive health services.

Although it's been around since 1957, the agency received a kick start with Patrick's appointment in 1994.

Now, the assistant attorney general's goal is to leverage the division's resources by taking on the cases with the widest possible impact, looking at systemic or institutional patterns of discrimination rather than individual grievances.

Of late, he's been heading the investigation into the church arsons tearing across the South. "We've got to beat this because the crimes are horrific and because the symbol is so destructive. And we need to make sure the message is clear: this is not acceptable in a civilized society," he says.

Staying on point is an integral part of the way this agency enforces civil rights law. It has been particularly effective in issues of fair lending. Most recently, the agency reached an agreement with a subsidiary of the Fleet Financial Group, resulting in the payment of $4 million in damages to African Americans and Hispanics who were charged higher prices for home mortgage loans than comparably qualified whites.

"When we know a violation has occurred, we don't have any trouble filing a lawsuit, warns Patrick. As a result, last year's record volume of lending to minority borrowers is a direct result of the agency's watchdog activities, say industry insiders. Just as the settlement filed by the Denny's restaurant chain for $46 million had a ripple effect on discrimination at public accommodations, the same effect appears to be happening in the banking industry. "They talk among themselves about what we are doing, and know that if they don't find a way to remedy situations on their own, there will be consequences," warns Patrick.

To that end, he plans to broaden the division's fair lending course, extending it to include the huge portion of the lending industry that is unregulated, including finance companies, direct mortgage lenders and others often used by poor and low-income people.

Despite the many battles won, the division has suffered some setbacks, most notably in redistricting and affirmative action. So while proud of the division's accomplishments, Patrick acknowledges there is still much more to do.

RELATED ARTICLE: LEGISLATIVE LOG

Democrats are hopeful that a much touted plan will help catapult them back into the majority, much as the Contract with america did for the Republicans in 1994.

The Families First Agenda, championed by Democrats nationwide, focuses on a wide range of issues deeply affecting Americans, including: protecting the standard of living; retirement security; expanding educational and economic opportunities; and enhancing governmental, individual and corporate responsibility.

Two steps are included in the plan to provide tax relief to small businesses. Owners would be able to keep a family business intact by allowing their heirs to pay estate taxes in annual installments--with a favorable interest rate of 4% on the first $2.5 million. An increase from the current $1 million limit, it's intended to prevent many family businesses from having to liquidate.

The plan also calls for increasing the expensing of depreciable poverty. The amount that small businesses would be allowed to expense would rise from $17,500 to $25,000, effective January 1998, thereby simplifying tax reporting and recordkeeping.