Maryland U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron Establishes New Civil Rights Section
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, Erek L. Barron, has established a new Civil Rights and Special Victims Section. Sarah A. Marquardt and Paul E. Budlow are Co-Chiefs of the new Section and Charles D. Austin is Deputy Chief. The office said that "This section will be a beacon for protecting civil rights and addressing victim-related crimes requiring specialized skills."
The Civil Rights and Special Victims Section will be staffed by Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSAs) from the Civil Division and Criminal Division. The Criminal Division’s Major Crimes Section AUSAs and support staff will be merged into the new section. The new section will continue Major Crimes’ strong focus on cases involving vulnerable victims and federal criminal civil rights enforcement, including child exploitation, human trafficking, and identity theft.
The new section will also enforce a wide spectrum of federal civil rights laws in order to protect the constitutional rights of Marylanders and affirm equal opportunity for all, regardless of one’s race, ethnicity, sex, color, disability, religion, national origin, or sexual orientation. The section’s civil rights work will focus on prosecuting hate crimes, eradicating discrimination in housing, preventing voter suppression, prohibiting discriminatory employment practices by state and local government employers, ensuring equal opportunity for Marylanders with disabilities, and investigating denials of equal protection to students by public schools and institutions of higher learning.
