Daniel W Sutherland

Daniel W. Sutherland is the former Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He was appointed to the position on April 16, 2003 by George W. Bush.

He has served fourteen years with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and nearly two years with the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education, where he was Chief of Staff. In addition, he served as the first Executive Director of the Brown v. Board of Education 50th Anniversary Commission. He has also served at the White House, with the Domestic Policy Council, and at the Bush-Cheney Transition headquarters.

In his career as a civil rights attorney, Sutherland has handled many important lawsuits, primarily in the areas of discrimination against immigrants and discrimination against people with disabilities, such as in the case of PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin. At the Department of Education, he handled cases relating to racial discrimination (especially against Arab-Americans) and disability law.

He co-authored the book Religion in the Workplace, a book describing federal laws governing claims of religious discrimination in employment settings, which was published by the American Bar Association in 1998. He has also written numerous articles and speeches.

Sutherland graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law and the University of Louisville, where he placed third at the National Debate Tournament in 1981.