Civil Rights Watch Dog
The Commission is often referred to as a "Civil Rights Watch Dog" that ensures the federal government is enforcing civil rights laws fairly and evenhandedly. Interestingly, this is a role the Commission has undertaken only in the last few decades. The original Commission was not configured to be an effective watch dog, since all its members were appointed by the President (subject to Senate confirmation)and were subject to dismissal by the President at any time. Moreover, there were no civil rights laws for the federal government to enforce and thus little for the Commission to oversee.
President Ronald Reagan attempted to exercise the power to dismiss by firing Carter appointee Mary Frances Berry. Berry, however, convinced Congress to re-charter the Commission in a way that would protect members from dismissal without cause. It was out of this re-chartering effort that the "watch dog" model for the Commission emerged. Along with Berry, Ford appointee Rabbi Murray Saltzman was fired by President Reagan for referring to Reagan's policy regarding the Commission to that of a "lap dog" rather than a "watch dog."
Under the re-charter, the Commission was given eight members rather than the original six. Only half would be appointed by the President, and a President would ordinarily have to be elected to two terms before he could appoint more than two. First-term Presidents would thus ordinarily have to wait a year or two before they would have any representation at all, and it would take time before all the appointees of previous Presidents would rotate off. The remaining four members would be appointed by Congressional leaders of both houses and both parties. All of this was thought to be crucial to maintaining the Commission's independence from the President, which in turn was thought necessary to the Commission's role as a civil rights watch dog. Since then, the Commission has sometimes been a thorn in the side of sitting Presidents.
Read more about this topic: United States Commission On Civil Rights
Famous quotes containing the words civil rights, civil, rights, watch and/or dog:
“If we love-and-serve an ideal we reach backward in time to its inception and forward to its consummation. To grow is sometimes to hurt; but who would return to smallness?”
—Sarah Patton Boyle, U.S. civil rights activist and author. The Desegregated Heart, part 3, ch. 3 (1962)
“I’ve never been afraid to step out and to reach out and to move out in order to make things happen.”
—Victoria Gray, African American civil rights activist. As quoted in This Little Light of Mine, ch. 3, by Hay Mills (1993)
“Resolved, There can never be a true peace in this Republic until the civil and political rights of all citizens of African descent and all women are practically established. Resolved, that the women of the Revolution were not wanting in heroism and self-sacrifice, and we, their daughters, are ready, in this War, to pledge our time, our means, our talents, and our lives, if need be, to secure the final and complete consecration of America to freedom.”
—Woman’s Loyal League (founded May 1861)
“Eyes—the head’s chief of police. They watch and make mental notes. A blind person is like a city abandoned by the authorities. On sad days they cry. In these carefree times they weep only from tender emotions.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“But a dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down—very important traits in times like these. In fact, just as soon as a dog comes along who, in addition to these qualities, also knows when to buy and sell stocks, he can be moved right up to the boy’s bedroom and the boy can sleep in the dog house.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)