U.S. Attorney Adair Boroughs Joins DOJ Delegation to Commemorate “Bloody Sunday” and Passage of Voting Rights Act of 1965

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - Adair Boroughs, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina, joined more than two dozen other U.S. Attorneys from across the country as a delegation to commemorate the 58^th Anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” the March over Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge, and the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Boroughs has served as a member of the Attorney General Advisory Committee’s (AGAC) Civil Rights Subcommittee since taking office in July 2022.

“It was an honor to join colleagues from across the United States on this trip to Montgomery and Selma, home to some of the most important moments in the Civil Rights Movement,” said U.S. Attorney Boroughs. “The Department of Justice was founded after the Civil War to ensure protection of civil rights, and the protection of civil rights remains one of the most basic and important parts of our mission. This mission is even more critical in states like South Carolina, where we lack a state hate crimes statute. My office is committed to using every power we have to protect civil rights across South Carolina.”

From March 4-7, 2023, U.S. Attorneys from across the country met with community and civil rights leaders while exploring some of the significant and educational civil rights institutions in Alabama. U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, Nick Brown, hosted the delegation’s visit.

In addition to the March 5th Selma March, the U.S. Attorneys met with Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, as part of the subcommittee work supporting the AGAC.

Other meetings and visits during the trip focused on both historic civil rights conflicts and issues that are still alive today.

• The group met with distinguished jurist Myron Thompson, the first Black Assistant Attorney General for Alabama and the second Black Federal Judge in the state. As the former Chief Judge in the Middle District of Alabama, Judge Thompson was instrumental in preserving the Montgomery bus station where the Freedom Riders were attacked in 1961 and the establishment of the Freedom Rides Museum. Judge Thompson is a recipient of the Thurgood Marshall award for his “personal contributions and extraordinary commitment to the advancement of civil rights.”
• The group also met with Bryan Stevenson, Founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit organization that provides legal representation to people who have been wrongly convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails and prisons.
• The attorneys also visited The Johnson Institute in the Montgomery federal courthouse where many key civil rights cases were decided. The Johnson Institute demonstrates through its programming the importance of the U.S. Constitution and the independent judiciary.
• The U.S. Attorneys visited The Legacy Museum, which provides a comprehensive history on the legacy of slavery. Lynching, codified racial segregation, and the emergence of over-incarceration in the 20th century are examined in depth and brought to life through film, images, and first-person narratives at the museum. 
• At the Memorial for Peace and Justice, the group had an opportunity to reflect on America’s History of racial injustice. Set on a six-acre site, the memorial uses sculpture, art, and design to contextualize racial terror. The site includes a memorial square with 800 six-foot monuments to symbolize thousands of racial terror lynching victims in the United States.

The U.S. Attorneys from the following districts attended the Selma and Montgomery events: Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, South Carolina, Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, South Dakota, Kansas, Western and Middle Districts of Louisiana,  Eastern District of Wisconsin, Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan, Middle District of Florida, Northern and Eastern Districts of California, Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania, Western District of Virginia, Western District of North Carolina, Southern District of Ohio, Western District of New York, and Southern District of West Virginia.

The Attorney General’s Advisory Committee was established nearly 50 years ago by Attorney General Elliott Richardson. The Committee’s purpose is to give United States Attorneys a voice in Department policies and to advise the Attorney General of the United States.

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