The Justice Department on Tuesday issued a final rule updating its regulations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, eliminating "disparate-impact" liability from its Title VI framework and saying federal civil rights enforcement should focus on intentional discrimination rather than statistical outcomes.
"For decades, the Justice Department has used disparate-impact liability to undermine the constitutional principle that all Americans must be treated equally under the law," Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.
"No longer. This Department of Justice is eliminating its regulations that for far too long required recipients of federal funding to make decisions based on race," she added.
The change targets regulations that allowed claims against recipients of federal funding based on policies that are facially neutral but have uneven effects on different groups, even without evidence of discriminatory intent.
The department said it is removing that concept from its Title VI regulations while maintaining that Title VI continues to prohibit intentional discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in federally funded programs.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing federal agencies to cease using the disparate impact theory of liability under federal civil rights laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
"The prior 'disparate impact' regulations encouraged people to file lawsuits challenging racially neutral policies, without evidence of intentional discrimination," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, who leads the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
Dhillon said the department's shift would require proof of actual discrimination rather than, in the department's words, enforcing race- or sex-based quotas or assumptions.
Chief of Staff and Supervisory Official for the Office of Legal Policy Nicholas Schilling said the prior approach "for over 50 years" had produced discrimination barred by the 1964 law, and said the new rule reaffirms Congress' commitment to evaluating Americans "by merit."
Congress enacted Title VI as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Justice Department said a disparate-impact rule was added by the federal government in 1973 and was not part of the statute itself. The department also said the prior rule had been blocked in at least one state, limiting enforcement there.
The department said the new rule reflects its reading of Title VI and aligns with Supreme Court treatment of the statute over the past two decades.
It also said the earlier regulations created confusion and costly compliance obligations for states, local governments, nonprofits, and private organizations that receive federal financial assistance.
The department said removing disparate-impact language will promote more consistent enforcement and restore confidence in civil-rights law by aligning the regulations with the Constitution.
Newsmax Wires contributed to this report.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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