Christopher Coates

Who is Christopher Coates?

Christopher Coates is a U.S. Justice Department official and former ACLU lawyer. He stepped down as Voting Section chief in December 2009 and transferred to the U.S. Attorney's office in South Carolina. He was involved in a prominent case over voter intimidation that was later dropped, and was not permitted by the department to testify before U.S. Civil Rights Commission Hearing investigating issues related to the case.

In January 2010 Coates said, "America is increasingly a multiracial, multiethnic, and multicultural society. For such a diverse group of people to be able to live and function together in a democratic society, there have to be certain common standards that we are bound by and that protect us all. ... For the Department of Justice to enforce the Voting Rights Act only to protect members of certain minority groups breaches the fundamental guarantee of equal protection. ..."

J. Christian Adams has said that Coates, who he worked with on a voter intimidation case involving the New Black Panther Party, was transferred after a confrontation with acting head of the Civil Rights Division, Steve Rosenbaum. Adams claims officials in the Obama administration oppose race-neutral enforcement of the law. In December 2009 the United States Civil Rights Commission issued a subpoena for Coates' testimony on the matter; however, the Department of Justice ordered him not to comply.