Memo Reveals Dept. of Justice Directed to Hire People With 'Intellectual Disabilities

Eric Holder's Department of Justice is, to put it charitably, not without its critics. This story is likely to sharpen their criticisms.

A memo from within the Justice Department's Civil Rights division obtained by Pajamas Media shows that the Justice Department not only hires, but makes a point of hiring people with so-called "intellectual disabilities," mental disorders and other problems, some of which could easily be seen to effect one's competence. Read the first few pages of the memo below:

Mediaite sums up the memo this way:

The directive by Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez, dated May 31, 2012, authorizes Justice Department officials to recruit those who self-identify as suffering from a psychiatric disorder or intellectual disability.

PJ Media notes that the directive allows DoJ officials to hire those disabled recruitment targets through “non-competitive” appointment. That is, they don’t have to compete with applicants who do not suffer with disabilities.

It should be noted that this memo only applies to the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department. In other words, if you want something done by, say, the International Corruption division, you're less likely to see one of these hires.

However, as luck would have it, the Civil Rights Division is precisely the one that tends to have the Department's critics hopping mad. For instance, the Civil Rights Division is the division that ignored the case of the New Black Panther Party's (NBPP) voter intimidation, and that is in the process of suing over Voter ID. Given these and other rather high profile controversial cases, critics are sure to detect more than a little irony in the Justice Department's apparent practice of affirmative action for the mentally disabled.