James Felte
Chief of the Criminal Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice
2023
Jim Felte is the Chief of the Criminal Section in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. As Chief, he is responsible for the nationwide enforcement of the federal criminal civil rights statutes which include: hate crimes, offenses committed under color law, human trafficking, and interference with reproductive health care rights. Mr. Felte has been a career criminal prosecutor for more than 25 years and has investigated and prosecuted numerous criminal civil rights cases. He has conducted extensive trainings for law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and victim assistance providers in strategies for investigating, prosecuting, and managing criminal civil rights cases.
Before coming to the Department of Justice, Mr. Felte served as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney in Norfolk, Virginia where he prosecuted a wide range of cases including homicide, sexual assault, robbery, police misconduct, and narcotics trafficking. He served as a law clerk to the Honorable Glen M. Williams, U.S. District
At the Summit
My network of professionals working on countering hate in all its forms grew exponentially after attending Eradicate Hate in 2021. The myriad voices represented at Eradicate Hate, from big tech companies to academic researchers to those with lived experience, reinforced to me the importance of cross-cutting and collaborative approaches to counter hate and its devastating impacts on society. I’ve been fortunate to sustain and build those networks with many of those I met at Eradicate Hate in 2021.
