Senator Mike Lee recently expressed his approval of a Justice Department memorandum that challenges the constitutionality of disparate impact liability—a principle that has been a part of legal precedent for over fifty years and explicitly codified for more than three decades. The DOJ's stance is based on a Supreme Court shadow docket order that permitted Alabama to implement controversial new election maps, which some critics argue could enable discriminatory practices.

In a tweet, Senator Lee described disparate impact as a "perverse conception of civil rights" and promoted his legislative effort, the Restoring Equal Opportunity Act, aimed at banning such policies. This move has sparked a debate about the implications for civil rights protections, particularly in employment.

Senator Lee, who secured a Supreme Court clerkship through connections—his father's former assistant was his boss—has often been a vocal critic of what he views as "good" discrimination intended to combat societal inequities. However, his recent actions and statements have raised eyebrows, considering his own religious community, the Mormons, have historically faced discrimination.

Just last week, Lee was vocal on social media, decrying a new Department of Defense coding system that classified the LDS Church as a non-Christian religion. This classification was later revised not by reclassifying Mormons under the Christian category, but by eliminating the "Christian" category altogether, a move reminiscent of certain localities that halted all marriages to avoid sanctioning same-sex unions.

These situations underscore a broader issue highlighted by critics: while Lee supports policies that may erode protections against discrimination, his own community has faced similar challenges. This paradox highlights the complexity and potential consequences of undermining civil rights protections that prevent discrimination based on broader, often unseen impacts.

As debates continue, the question remains: Will the undermining of such legal protections ultimately harm those they were designed to help, potentially including groups like the one Senator Lee belongs to? Civil rights, it seems, are only as secure as the protections in place to uphold them.