Legal Challenge to Protect the Community Relations Service from DOJ and Attorney General Bondi

The Ethical Society of Police is the lead plaintiff alongside St. Louis co-plaintiffs, NAACP St. Louis County and the Missionary Baptist State Convention of Missouri 

ST. LOUIS, MO – The Ethical Society of Police is the lead plaintiff alongside a diverse coalition of faith, civil-rights, public-safety, health, and community organizations in a suit filed to stop the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Attorney General Pamela J. Bondi from eliminating the Community Relations Service (CRS). CRS was created under the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 to help communities work through conflicts related to race, color, and national origin before they turn into crises. 

Earlier this month, 90 House Democrats , including Missouri Representative Wesley Bell, and more than 100 civil rights and community organizations filed amicus briefs supporting the lawsuit.

The lawsuit explains how ESOP and co-plaintiffs NAACP St. Louis County and the Missionary Baptist State Convention of Missouri were directly harmed when the DOJ abruptly ordered CRS to withdraw from mediation with the St. Louis County Police Department before an agreement could be finalized in the September 2024 incident in which a Black off-duty officer was beaten by three White construction workers. CRS was helping the parties work through the fallout and rebuild trust when the DOJ pulled the plug, leaving the conflict unresolved.

“The Department of Justice refuses to follow the law – and it cannot offer any coherent explanation for its actions,” the lawsuit states. “Instead, the Executive Branch is brazenly defying Congress.”

The case, Ethical Society of Police, et al. v. Pamela J. Bondi and the U.S. Department of Justice (Case No. 25-CV-13115), filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, argues that DOJ’s move to dismantle CRS is illegal because only Congress can eliminate an agency that Congress created. For months, the DOJ has refused new CRS cases, pulled CRS out of ongoing community conflicts, and issued reduction-in-force (RIF) notices for all but one CRS employee.

“Defending civil rights means speaking up when the law is ignored and community safety is placed at risk,” said NAACP St. Louis County leadership. “We are committed to protecting CRS because it saves lives, builds trust, and supports equal justice. We cannot allow this resource to be dismantled without due process.”

The Ethical Society of Police (ESOP), the lead plaintiff, is a St. Louis-based organization was founded in 1972 to address race-based discrimination in policing. 

DOJ move to “eliminate CRS and its functions”
In its budget summary, the DOJ announced its intent to stop funding CRS and “eliminate CRS and its functions,” claiming that “[t]he CRS mission does not comport with Attorney General and Administration law enforcement and litigating priorities.”

The lawsuit argues that this move violates both the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution’s separation of powers by attempting to shut down a Congressionally created agency without going through Congress or the required public process.

“Trump and Bondi do not have the authority to dismantle (CRS) by executive fiat, and their effort to do so is a blatant violation of law and usurpation of congressional authority,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee. “I’m proud to lead this coalition of House Democrats who are standing up for this agency created to combat hate crimes, antisemitism, and religious violence, and empower American communities to peacefully resolve conflicts. Its work is more relevant and urgent than ever.”

“America’s Peacemaker” and its legacy
Known as “America’s Peacemaker,” CRS was championed by President John F. Kennedy, who argued that the federal government should have experts who can spot tensions early and “work quietly to ease tensions and improve relations in any community threatened or torn with strife” by “enabling all concerned to sit down and reason together.”

Over the decades, CRS has played a key role in de-escalating conflicts across the country – from Selma, Alabama in 1965, to the Boston school busing crisis in the 1970s, to the nationwide tensions following the killings of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown.

The lawsuit notes that “the current Administration is fundamentally hostile to CRS’s existence. Rather than pursue legislation to eliminate the agency, however, Defendants set out to destroy CRS unilaterally. Defendants did so behind closed doors, without notice or public input, and without consulting the communities that depend on CRS. When called out in this Court, Defendants protested they were only reorganizing the agency—an excuse plainly disproven by Defendants’ own contemporaneous admissions that they would ‘eliminate CRS and its functions.’”

Court finds plaintiffs likely to win on the law
The plaintiff coalition sought an emergency temporary restraining order (TRO) to halt the planned RIF of CRS’s remaining employees and prevent the effective closure of the agency.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani denied the immediate TRO because of the strict legal standard on timing and irreparable harm. However, she found that “Plaintiffs have made a strong showing that they are likely to succeed on the merits, where Defendants concede that only Congress, and not the executive branch, may eliminate a Congressionally created agency.”

On October 31, RIF notices were issued for 14 of the remaining 15 CRS employees. In the continuing resolution passed to reopen the government in November, Congress funded CRS and directed the Executive Branch to rescind all RIFs implemented after October 1, 2025. The administration has not complied, leaving CRS with only a single employee nationwide.

Communities left without a trusted peacemaker
“ESOP’s mission is deeply intertwined with the Community Relations Service’s purpose,” said Sgt. Donnell Walters, President of the Ethical Society of Police. “When trust breaks down, CRS is the only federal team whose whole job is to defuse tensions before they become violence at no cost to communities. The immediate loss of nearly the entire CRS workforce leaves communities without a proven, neutral partner for de-escalation, dialogue, and problem-solving when tensions run high. It is not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ a tragic incident occurs without CRS’ support to diffuse the resulting unrest.”

The 11 plaintiffs
The plaintiffs in this case are:

• Ethical Society of Police (ESOP)
• Missionary Baptist State Convention of Missouri (MBSC)
• NAACP St. Louis County
• Two Wrasslin’ Cats Accord (TWCA)
• Out Accountability Project (OAP)
• Berkshire Resources for Integration of Diverse Groups and Education, doing business as Multicultural Bridge (BRIDGE)
• NAACP State Conference Colorado-Montana-Wyoming (Tri-State NAACP)
• Peacemakers Lodge
• Pikes Peak Southern Christian Leadership Conference (Pikes Peak SCLC)
• Wellspring Health Access
• Haitian Community Help & Support Center (Haitian Support Center)
  

In May 2025, more than 100 members of the United States Congress, including U.S. Representative Wesley Bell of Missouri, also sent a letter of concern to Attorney General Bondi, urging protection and support for CRS.

How the public can help
The Ethical Society of Police is urging community members and organizations across the country to contact their local officials and members of Congress and call for immediate protection and full staffing for CRS.

To discover ways to support the reinstatement of CRS, visit www.americaspeacemakers.com/advocate-for-crs

Learn more about CRS and the litigation at www.americaspeacemakers.com

Community Relations Service, CRS, Civil Rights Act, DOJ, Attorney General Bondi, civil rights coalition, conflict resolution, racial justice, community safety, faith organizations, public safety, social justice initiatives

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Media Contact
Rachel Brown-Wagner