Two Key Ed Department Positions Filled This Week

This week we learned that Carlos G. Muñiz will be nominated to the position of general counsel to the Department of Education, and that Candice E. Jackson has been appointed "acting" Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights.

Muñiz once served as a deputy attorney general to Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Later, he entered private practice with the firm McGuire Woods. Notably, he represented Florida State when it was sued by a student challenging its handling of her report that she'd been raped by football player Jameis Winston. (The case, which we blogged about often, settled for $950,000.)  Because the general counsel will advise OCR on policy related to sexual assault enforcement, I was particularly interested to read the comments of John Clune, who represented the plaintiff, Winston's accuser. Clune told the New York Times that Muñiz is "approachable" and that he listened and cared about the plaintiff's positions. However, he also noted that Muñiz was critical of the investigation the Office for Civil Rights is conducting into Florida State's handling of the case. This is interesting, since the facts alleged to OCR were pretty egregious -- essentially, that FSU officials initially concealed the accusation and failed to conduct any kind of disciplinary proceeding in order to protect their star quarterback. Even a lawyer who must dispute the truth of those facts could still recognize that allegations along those lines are worthy of investigation. So Muñiz's criticism of OCR, as relayed by Clune, could indicate his belief that OCR's role in sexual assault matters (and other civil rights issues?) should be very limited. If that's true, he would likely use his position to press for changes to OCR's current policy of insisting educational institutions engage in prompt and equitable response to charges of sexual assault.

Jackson, an attorney in private practice, also created the "Their Lives" foundation, to "give a voice to victims of those who abuse power, particularly when that abuser is another woman." Despite the general-sounding nature of this description, the foundation's website seems devoted to giving a voice to Kathy Shelton's claims that she was the victim of abuse of power by Hillary Clinton when Clinton was appointed by the court system in Arkansas to represent Shelton's rapist. Does Jackson's public record of support and concern for a rape victim mean she will maintain or strengthen OCR's policies regarding institutional response to campus sexual assault? Or are her politics more anti-Clinton than anti-rape? Given that Jackson is only known as a critic of the Clintons, her appointment by Clinton's opponent could appear to some as one motivated by political patronage rather than merit. However, Jackson's appointment to "acting" Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights avoids scrutiny on this issue, as acting officials do not need to be approved by the Senate. Notably, however, federal law limits her term of service for no more than 300 days (technically, 210 days from 90 days after the President assumes office, i.e., until approximately November 16). It also prohibits the acting official from simultaneously being the nominee for the permanent position.