Throughout her career, she has drawn support from a wide range of liberal and conservative activists, as well as law enforcement groups, for building support for policing and criminal justice reform.[6][7] Before becoming Associate Attorney General, Gupta served as president and chief executive officer of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights from 2017 until her nomination as Associate Attorney General in 2021.[8][9]
Gupta's first case, while working for the Legal Defense Fund directly after law school, involved 40 African Americans and six white or Latino people who were romantic partners of African Americans in Tulia, Texas. They had been convicted by all-white juries of dealing drugs.[16] In almost every case, the only evidence was the testimony of an undercover agent, Tom Coleman.
Coleman did not use wiretaps or marked money, and records showed that he had "filed shoddy reports".[17] He had previous misdemeanor charges for stealing gasoline from a county pump and abuse of official capacity.[17] Gupta won the release of her clients in 2003, four years after they were jailed, then negotiated a $6 million settlement for them.[18] In 2004, she received the Reebok Human Rights Award.[19] As of 2018, Paramount is making a film, Tulia, about the case.[20]
ACLU
In 2007, after becoming a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, Gupta filed a lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) about detention conditions for children whose parents were asylum seekers.[21] In August 2007, a landmark agreement was reached between ACLU and ICE, under which the conditions in the T. Don Hutto Residential Center improved and several children were released from the center.[21]
On August 6, 2009, the Department of Homeland Security announced intentions to improve the nation's immigration detention system, including ending family detention at the T. Don Hutto Residential Center.[22]
After her time as a staff attorney at the ACLU, Gupta served as its deputy legal director and director of its Center for Justice.[23] She has been credited with pioneering the ACLU's National Campaign to End Mass Incarceration.[24] She built bipartisan coalitions to advance pre-trial and sentencing reforms around the country.
During her time at the organization, Gupta worked to combat harmful online misinformation, and "often sat shoulder-to-shoulder with tech leaders including Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg" to discuss content moderation strategies.[26] She took a leave from the organization in January 2021 and formally left once confirmed as Associate Attorney General in April 2022.[27]
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights (2014–2017)
Under Gupta's leadership, the Civil Rights Division worked to advance criminal justice reform and constitutional policing, including by investigating and working to reform police departments in Ferguson, Missouri;[28][29]Cleveland; Baltimore, and Chicago, among other cities. Gupta also oversaw a wide range of other enforcement efforts for the Division, including prosecuting hate crimes and human trafficking, promoting disability rights, protecting LGBT rights, and combating discrimination in education, employment, housing, lending and voting.[30][31]
Gupta's tenure was marked by several high-profile matters, including the investigations of the Ferguson, Baltimore, and Chicago police departments; the appeals of the Texas and North Carolina voter ID cases; the challenge to North Carolina's HB2 law and other LGBTQ2 rights litigation; enforcement of education, land use, hate crimes, and other statutes to combat religious discrimination; the issuance of statements of interest on bail and indigent defense reform, and letters to state and local court judges and administrators on the unlawful imposition of fines and fees in the criminal justice system; and the administration's report on solitary confinement.
In 2016, under Gupta's leadership, the division sued North Carolina, alleging that the state's implementation of House Bill 2 discriminated against transgender individuals in violation of federal civil rights laws.[32]
In August 2016, an investigation by Gupta's division concluded that the Baltimore Police Department engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that violated the Constitution and federal statutory law, including unconstitutional stops, searches, arrests, excessive force, and enforcement strategies that produced an unjustified disparate impact on African-American residents.[33]
Gupta faced strong opposition from Republicans who criticized her civil rights advocacy, particularly during the Trump administration. The Senate confirmed Gupta by a 51–49 vote on April 21 after Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski agreed to vote to confirm her.[41] Gupta pledged to sell her remaining $14.5 million stake in Avantor, a company her father chairs, amid questioning about a report that the company sold chemicals diverted by Mexican drug cartels to make heroin.[42]
Tenure
Gupta was sworn in on April 22, 2021.[43] On April 27, 2022, she announced the launch of the National Law Enforcement Knowledge Lab, an initiative to create a "free, voluntary one-stop-shop for information, guidance and training for law enforcement agencies."[44] The police-reform lab is part of a "push to boost best policing practices", The Hill reported.[45] After the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Gupta joined Attorney General Merrick Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco in reviewing local law enforcement's response to the shooting.[46]
Gupta has said that the Justice Department intends to take a hard line on "killer acquisitions" as part of the Biden administration's effort to rein in monopolies.[47] She is reportedly responsible for deciding whether Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division, will be permitted to participate in the United States v. Google LLC case.[48] In January 2023, it was reported that Kanter would be cleared to continue to work on DOJ cases involving Google.[49]
In December 2021, Gupta announced a lawsuit against the state of Texas following the state's redistricting process, which the DOJ determined was in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.[50]
In July 2023, Gupta announced a lawsuit against the state of Texas for installing floating barriers in the Rio Grande without federal authorization, saying the devices presented "threats to navigation and public safety and humanitarian concerns".[51]
On January 4, 2024, Gupta announced that the Justice Department was suing the state of Texas on the grounds that its enforcement of Senate Bill 4, allowing state and local police to arrest people suspected of entering the United States unlawfully, was unconstitutional. The complaint argued the state's enforcement of the bill was preempted by federal law.[52] On March 12, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court extended the pause on enforcing the bill pending further argument.[53] On March 19, the Court ruled that Texas may begin enforcing SB 4 while a lawsuit over its constitutionality remains pending before a federal appeals court.[54][55]
On January 31, 2024, it was reported that Gupta would leave her role as associate attorney general the following week.[56]
Criticism
Over 40 South Asian groups and civil rights organizations have drawn attention to Gupta's role in the University of Farmington scandal.[57][58] They have called on her to return $6 million in tuition money to South Asian students who they allege were racially targeted and tricked by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement into attending the fake university.[57][58] In the advocates' view, Gupta's lack of action is an example of the Biden administration's poor treatment of immigrants.[57][58] Lakshmi Sridaran, executive director of SAALT, alleges that Gupta has the power to immediately return the $6 million paid to DHS, but does not say on what legal basis that is true.[57][58] Gupta has never worked at DHS or ICE, the two agencies involved in the scandal. The South Asian groups are suing DHS, not DOJ where Gupta worked until 2024.
Personal life and recognition
Gupta is married to Chinh Q. Le, Professor of Practice at the University of Virginia School of Law.[59] They have two sons.[60] In 2022, Gupta received the Charles R. Richey Equal Justice Award from George Washington University Law School.[61]
^"Statement of Vanita Gupta". United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. June 16, 2020. Archived from the original on August 24, 2022. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
