BETSY DEVOS/CIVIL RIGHTS/EDUCATION/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Three national civil rights organizations sued the Education Department on Thursday [5-31-18] over new procedures that allow its Office for Civil Rights to dismiss complaints that it determines to be burdensome or a drain on the department’s resources. The National Federation of the Blind, the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said that the department was ‘arbitrary and capricious’ in making substantive revisions to its case-processing manual, which guides its handling of civil rights complaints, without giving the public notice, an explanation or a chance to comment. The organizations, which all have headquarters in Baltimore, also charged that the changes were unlawful and undermined the agency’s statutory obligation to investigate any complaint when there was reason to believe a civil rights violation had occurred. The suit, filed in United States District Court in Maryland, accused Education Secretary Betsy DeVos of violating the federal Administrative Procedure Act, and the acting assistant secretary for civil rights, Candice Jackson, of breaking the law by enacting the new manual. The groups asked a judge to stop the department from enforcing the new provisions.”
-Erica L. Green, “Disability and Civil Rights Groups Sue DeVos Over Investigation Rollbacks,” The New York Times online, May 31, 2018