Vote Tuesday, August 5
YORK - The ichi-
gan Civil Right Commission
like other state agencie charg­
ed with safeguarding civil rights
are falling down on the job of
enforcing anti-di rimination
law a study by the American
Jewish Congre has found.
An 82-p e report stemming
from the udy ays the enci
have compiled at be a medio­
cre record of accomplishment
becau they are not funded
adequately, employ unqualified
personnel, f' to commen
enforcemen . n on their 0
initiative, refu to introduce
. or folio time lirlii I in resolv-
ing ca and lac streamlined
dministrative structure.
The ..American Jewish Con­
gJ1 report, entit d 'State
Civil Rights Agencies: The
Unfulfilled Prom' ," include
data compiled by the regional
offices of the J e ish organi-
zation. Seven state were
covered: Georgia assa-
chusetts i higan, is uri,
ew York, Ohio and Pennsyl­
vania.
In me case the report
notes incomplete data resulted
from the reluctance of me
ate gency staffs to disclo
information about the agency
that might be interpreted un­
favorably.
ost tate encies tend to
ignore time limit on ca
In ichigan the aver ge time
for a complaint to be proce d
from filing to hearin i four
years. one of the state agen­
cie studied operate in uch a
fa . n a to provide a final
djudication of mo t com­
plaints in le than a year, the
survey found.
Another we ness cited in
the report i the failure of the
human righ t enci s to t
up formal guideline for deter­
mining whether there is 'pro­
b ble cau " to pursue a com­
plaint. In mo t state it notes
the number f complaints dis­
mi d for I ck of probable
cau is bout 50 percent.
Wh.il c ow ledging that a
"significant number of filed
10 complaint are no doubt fri-
z
volous," the rep rt charge th t
the dismissal by the encies
of half of all filed complaint
" ems more of a comment
On the I k of riousne s of
the tate a encies than on the
nature of the complaint . '
The udy al found that
for the yen ates studied,
an avera e of only 7 percent
of filed complaints are ever
formally adjudicated, ranging
from 2 percent in Mas hu tts
to 12 percent in OIU. "Thus,"
the report ob rve, "if you are
em y pro-
ject man er, there is about a
1 in 10 chance that any di -
crimination charge filed ainst
you will reach a formal djudi­
cati n not to mention the
le r chance of an unfavor­
able deci ion."
These odds, the analysi says
seriously reduce th incentive
for the party charged with di -
crimination to reach a ttle­
ment through rious negoti­
ation. In ddition, fear of a
ssible complaint being filed
becomes negligible a deter­
rent against vi lations of anti­
di rimination law , the rep rt
add .
CRITICIZES PASSIVE
ROLE
The sharpest criticism is re-
rved for the policy of the
enforcement encies to t e
t 0 pas . e a role in combattin
discrimination. It contend that
they view their ta s on of
waiting for individuals to file
complaint rather than commen­
cing enforcement acti n on their
own initiative as most are
empowered to do.
oreover, while a fe states
1 e i ouri till have n t
granted civil rights encies th
uthority to bpoena record
or witne mo f the tate
enci s do h ve that legal
power, yet there i no indic t-
Ion that they have u d it
dequately the r port y.
The AD ongre d
offer th followin
for improved tate
enforcement of anti-di
tion law:
Ina
ed item . ile ac n led ing
that every tate a en y c uld
benefit from bud et in rea s
the report y that the tares
should not thro m ney' at
the en ies haphazardly bu t
target cific items, such
investigator' salari to enable
them to attract more highly
qualified and effi . nt
Impro e Staff Quali .
inefficiency and incompetence
ex erb ted by turnover rate
of SO percent or more is
major ob t cle to enforcin
anti-di rimination legisl tion.
ttracting and eeping highly
qualified p r nnel sit uld be
, a fir priority." Int e
officer and inve i t r hand­
ling complaint sh uld be well­
vet: d in agency rule, pro­
cedure and the pr vi i n of
stat civil right legi ati n and
able to e plain them t c m­
plainants and th ac u d f
di rimination.
. Dem d more or u en­
forcement. Political pre re
at the ate level sh uld be
enerated by th civil right
community to for e more
ressiv a tion by the tat
a encies. They sh uld b
required to initiate complaints
on their 0 n, as ell a pro-
ces filed by individual
mplainant . The gencie
uld al be pre d to in-
the number of public
their
ructur .
In
. tiona)
t te ,
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