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Less secure men might cringe in the face of such a withering indictment; amiable, combative Brad Reynolds has served as an unflinching lightning rod for attacks on Reagan policies. He vigorously defends his approach as an attempt to foster a society that is "race and sex neutral." A scion of the wealthy Du Pont family, Reynolds, 42, argues that efforts to remedy historical discrimination through quota-based affirmative action plans are attempts "to cure discrimination with discrimination," thereby violating both the Constitution and the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Reynolds insists that he is as dedicated to battling bias as any of his predecessors, but only in cases where individuals can show that they personally were discriminated against.
While critics who know Reynolds concede that he is sincere in his beliefs, they add that his dream of a color-blind society ignores the real-life hardships of blacks, Hispanics and women who are unable to find jobs and housing. "I just can't have much respect for people who have these theoretical views without very much sensitivity to the reality," says Yale Law Professor Drew Days, who did Reynolds' job for the Carter Administration. He negotiated a number of busing and affirmative action programs that Reynolds is now trying to undo.
Droves of the Carter-era lawyers have resigned from Justice, including half of the civil rights division's black attorneys. Many of the 175 career lawyers now working for Reynolds are bored and idle, insiders say, because all the important cases are handled by political appointees close to Reynolds. "In the past, career attorneys did everything," says Philadelphia Lawyer Timothy Cook, who when he resigned in 1983 wrote Reynolds a blistering 30-page memo. Now, he says, "only a little squad of special assistants writes briefs." Those briefs strike the more liberal attorneys as bizarre. "It's like Through the Looking Glass," says Muriel Spence, who left to join the American Civil Liberties Union in 1983. "Everything is exactly the opposite of the way it's supposed to be."
Top Reagan officials consider the civil rights policies a success, both on their merits and with the public. Attorney General Edwin Meese has announced that Reynolds will be his Associate Attorney General, the third- ranking official of the Justice Department. While tough questioning awaits Reynolds at his imminent confirmation hearings, he is expected to carry the day. As for his replacement, a leading contender is Charles Cooper, 33, the division's top deputy, a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist. Many in the unhappy civil rights community consider Cooper more ideologically zealous than even Reynolds has been.