Columbus criticizes DOJ's failure to follow Privacy Act steps and doubts the injunction's effect
Eric ColumbusLegal commentator and former government lawyer
Columbus criticizes the Civil Rights Division for failing to follow Privacy Act requirements before using and sharing voter data. He is skeptical that the injunction will have much effect going forward because data sharing with the states has already happened.
“these are procedural steps that they could have taken but refused to.”
Analysis
Where this statement fits
Judge vacates DOJ's voter-roll collection and sharing policy in Common Cause suit
Common Cause and four voters sued the Justice Department on April 21, 2026 over its nationwide voter-list policy, under which the Civil Rights Division sought states' unredacted voter registration lists and compared them with a federal citizenship database. In a May 12 opinion, DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel said federal law lets the division obtain the lists and share them with DHS. On October 9, Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan set the policy aside. She ruled that it exceeded DOJ's statutory authority, was arbitrary and capricious, and violated the Privacy Act and the Paperwork Reduction Act. Common Cause and the ACLU welcomed the ruling, and a DOJ spokesperson said the department was reviewing it.
Source and context
Analysis
About this source
The discussion was recorded October 9. The publisher labels its transcript automated. The formal relief was vacatur; the panel's use of injunction is conversational.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
In the discussion introduced as taking place on October 9, Columbus says the judge found that the Civil Rights Division had not followed Privacy Act requirements before using data it obtains and sharing it with other offices.
After the quotation
He says he is skeptical the injunction will have much effect going forward, because any sharing of data back with the states has already happened.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is DOJ's collection and sharing of voter files. Columbus criticizes its refusal to follow required procedures. His separate doubts about the injunction's practical effect concern the remedy, rather than support for that policy.
- Recorded on
- Published here
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“This effort to seize sensitive voter data is part of that same pattern”Read statement
Common Cause condemns DOJ's voter-data demands
Common Cause
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- Columbus criticizes DOJ's failure to follow Privacy Act steps and doubts the injunction's effect
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The Dispute Index. "Columbus criticizes DOJ's failure to follow Privacy Act steps and doubts the injunction's effect". First published: 2026-10-28. Last updated: 2026-10-28. https://disputeindex.com/events/7024-columbus-criticizes-the-civil-rights-division-for-failing