- Collection:
- Atlanta University and Clark Atlanta University Theses and Dissertations
- Title:
- State civil rights law enforcement: an evaluation, 1991
- Creator:
- Dansby, Isaac H.
- Date of Original:
- 1991-07-01
- Subject:
- Degrees, Academic
Dissertations, Academic - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798
- Medium:
- theses
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- application/pdf
- Description:
- The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the performance of a state civil rights agency, the Michigan Department of Civil Rights (the only constitutionally empowered civil rights agency in the United States). We seek to answer this question: Does the Michigan Department of Civil Rights protect the employment rights of black citizens who live in the Detroit Metropolitan area? Among the research tools used are surveys, interviews and participant-observation. There are surveys of the Department of Civil Rights staff and citizens who have filed complaints, and black state legislators. The Department of Civil Rights staff members were interviewed as well as members of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, a state legislator, a delegate of the 1961 Michigan Constitutional Convention, and the President of the Michigan Urban League. An evolution of civil rights legislation on the federal and state levels is discussed, followed by a discussion of the creation of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission (Michigan Department of Civil Rights). A literature review presents writings in the area of employment discrimination, and other writings evaluating the performance of federal and state civil rights agencies. Included is a review of actual investigations completed by the Michigan Department of Civil Rights staff, which revealed the disposition of complaints filed by citizens. In the cases reviewed, the preliminary investigation supported the allegations, by citizens, that the Commission was not effective. The department has a ten-step investigatory process. However, in most cases in which the allegations of citizens are supported by the department's preliminary investigation, these cases are dismissed following the seventh step. Dismissed prior to an evidentiary hearing. For this reason, the basic conclusion drawn in this paper is that the Michigan Department of Civil Rights does not protect the employment rights of black citizens who live in the Detroit Metropolitan area.
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:1991_dansby_isaac_h
- Rights Holder:
- Clark Atlanta University
- Holding Institution:
- Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library
- Rights:
-
