U.S. Attorney, Middle District of Tennessee, U.S. Department of Justice
Braden Boucek was sworn in on December 24, 2025, as the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. Prior to becoming United States Attorney, Mr. Boucek served as the senior vice president of litigation at the Southeastern Legal Foundation having previously served as the vice president of legal affairs at the Beacon Center. Mr. Boucek has extensive experience as a prosecutor, starting his career at the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office before serving for two years as an Assistant District Attorney General in Williamson County. He was a federal prosecutor for ten years, first serving as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Tennessee from 2005 to 2011. From 2011 to 2015, Mr. Boucek was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Middle District of Tennessee, the district he now leads as the United States Attorney.
Founding Partner, Compton Jones Dresher LLP
Paul Compton is a founding partner of Compton Jones Dresher, a law practice based in Birmingham, Alabama that focuses on transactional and regulatory matters for clients in the real estate, financial services and community bank industries. Paul’s practice especially involves affordable housing and tax credit supported community development projects. He is currently a member of the Housing Advisory Council of the Bipartisan Policy Center. He is an adjunct Professor at the University of Alabama School of Law and a member of the Board of Directors of the Alabama Affordable Housing Association.
From 2018 to 2020 Paul served as General Counsel of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C. In that capacity he also served on the Federal Housing Administration Mortgagee Review Board and Mortgage Risk Review Council.
Before Paul’s service at HUD he was a partner and member of the managing board of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP in its Birmingham office.
Paul is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and the University of Alabama. He attended the London School of Economics and Political Science and is a Truman Scholar.
Associate Director, Fair Housing & Community Development Project, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Thomas Silverstein is the Associate Director of the Fair Housing & Community Development Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. He oversees the Project’s impact litigation docket, using the Fair Housing Act to foster the development of inclusive communities, expand access to opportunity, and fight displacement. He also provides technical assistance to states, local governments, and public housing authorities seeking to comply with the duty to affirmatively further fair housing. He is a national leader in the provision of legal and policy support to grassroots housing justice organizers. He has written extensively on the intersection of civil rights law and land use law and frequently participates in conference panels and webinars addressing a range of topics in civil rights and housing law and policy.
Prior to serving as Associate Director, Thomas was Counsel in the Fair Housing & Community Development Project. He began his legal career as the Lawyers’ Committee’s 2013-2014 George N. Lindsay Civil Rights Legal Fellow after earning his juris doctorate from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2013.
U.S. Attorney, Middle District of Tennessee, U.S. Department of Justice
Braden Boucek was sworn in on December 24, 2025, as the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. Prior to becoming United States Attorney, Mr. Boucek served as the senior vice president of litigation at the Southeastern Legal Foundation having previously served as the vice president of legal affairs at the Beacon Center. Mr. Boucek has extensive experience as a prosecutor, starting his career at the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office before serving for two years as an Assistant District Attorney General in Williamson County. He was a federal prosecutor for ten years, first serving as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Tennessee from 2005 to 2011. From 2011 to 2015, Mr. Boucek was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Middle District of Tennessee, the district he now leads as the United States Attorney.
Founding Partner, Compton Jones Dresher LLP
Paul Compton is a founding partner of Compton Jones Dresher, a law practice based in Birmingham, Alabama that focuses on transactional and regulatory matters for clients in the real estate, financial services and community bank industries. Paul’s practice especially involves affordable housing and tax credit supported community development projects. He is currently a member of the Housing Advisory Council of the Bipartisan Policy Center. He is an adjunct Professor at the University of Alabama School of Law and a member of the Board of Directors of the Alabama Affordable Housing Association.
From 2018 to 2020 Paul served as General Counsel of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C. In that capacity he also served on the Federal Housing Administration Mortgagee Review Board and Mortgage Risk Review Council.
Before Paul’s service at HUD he was a partner and member of the managing board of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP in its Birmingham office.
Paul is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and the University of Alabama. He attended the London School of Economics and Political Science and is a Truman Scholar.
Associate Director, Fair Housing & Community Development Project, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Thomas Silverstein is the Associate Director of the Fair Housing & Community Development Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. He oversees the Project’s impact litigation docket, using the Fair Housing Act to foster the development of inclusive communities, expand access to opportunity, and fight displacement. He also provides technical assistance to states, local governments, and public housing authorities seeking to comply with the duty to affirmatively further fair housing. He is a national leader in the provision of legal and policy support to grassroots housing justice organizers. He has written extensively on the intersection of civil rights law and land use law and frequently participates in conference panels and webinars addressing a range of topics in civil rights and housing law and policy.
Prior to serving as Associate Director, Thomas was Counsel in the Fair Housing & Community Development Project. He began his legal career as the Lawyers’ Committee’s 2013-2014 George N. Lindsay Civil Rights Legal Fellow after earning his juris doctorate from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2013.
Partner, Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP
Peter focuses his legal practice on representing management in employment-related litigation and in contract negotiations, NLRB proceedings, EEO matters and arbitration.
Peter Kirsanow is a partner with Benesch’s Labor & Employment Practice Group. He returned to Benesch in January 2008 after serving as a presidential appointee to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington D.C. for two years. While serving on the NLRB, he was involved with significant decisions including Oakwood Healthcare, Inc., Dana/Metaldyne and Oil Capital Sheet Metal, Inc. In addition, Peter testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the nominations of John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. He also continues to testify before and advise members of the U.S. Congress on employment law matters, most recently on November 18 before the House Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight regarding disparate impact theory.
Peter was recently reappointed by the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives to his fourth consecutive six-year term on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. This is a part-time position which will expire in December 2025.
Recently, Peter and a team of Benesch attorneys served as lead counsel to the National Association of Manufacturers in litigation before the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia against the NLRB, challenging the Board’s Notice of Employer Rights Posting Rule. The court ruled in favor of Benesch’s client, striking down the NLRB’s Rule in its entirety. This ruling impacts over 6,000,000 employers nationwide which would have been subject to the posting requirement.
Additionally, Peter is past chair of the board of directors of the Center for New Black Leadership and is a member of Benesch’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee. This committee helps ensure that the firm promotes an environment in which differences are respected, employees are treated fairly, and individual skills and talents are valued.
Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center
Stanley Kurtz is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. On a wide range of issues, from K-12 and higher education reform, to the challenges of democratization abroad, to urban-suburban policies, to the shaping of the American left’s agenda, Mr. Kurtz is a key contributor to American public debates. Mr. Kurtz has written on these and other issues for various journals, particularly National Review Online (where he is a contributing editor).
Mr. Kurtz has published two influential books on President Obama’s political history and policy agenda: Radical-in-Chief: Barack Obama and the Untold Story of American Socialism (Threshold) and Spreading the Wealth: How Obama is Robbing the Suburbs to Pay for the Cities (Sentinel). He has also led the campaign to reform federal subsidies to academic programs of “area studies” under Title VI of the Higher Education Act.
Mr. Kurtz received his undergraduate degree from Haverford College and his Ph.D. in social anthropology from Harvard University. He later taught at Harvard, winning several teaching awards for his work in a Great Books Program. He was also Dewey Prize Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Chicago.
Special Assistant and Counsel to Commissioner Peter Kirsanow of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Carissa Mulder is a 2009 graduate of the University of Notre Dame Law School and a member of the Virginia Bar. She is a special assistant and counsel to Commissioner Peter Kirsanow of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
U.S. Attorney, Middle District of Tennessee, U.S. Department of Justice
Braden Boucek was sworn in on December 24, 2025, as the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. Prior to becoming United States Attorney, Mr. Boucek served as the senior vice president of litigation at the Southeastern Legal Foundation having previously served as the vice president of legal affairs at the Beacon Center. Mr. Boucek has extensive experience as a prosecutor, starting his career at the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office before serving for two years as an Assistant District Attorney General in Williamson County. He was a federal prosecutor for ten years, first serving as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Tennessee from 2005 to 2011. From 2011 to 2015, Mr. Boucek was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Middle District of Tennessee, the district he now leads as the United States Attorney.
Founding Partner, Compton Jones Dresher LLP
Paul Compton is a founding partner of Compton Jones Dresher, a law practice based in Birmingham, Alabama that focuses on transactional and regulatory matters for clients in the real estate, financial services and community bank industries. Paul’s practice especially involves affordable housing and tax credit supported community development projects. He is currently a member of the Housing Advisory Council of the Bipartisan Policy Center. He is an adjunct Professor at the University of Alabama School of Law and a member of the Board of Directors of the Alabama Affordable Housing Association.
From 2018 to 2020 Paul served as General Counsel of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C. In that capacity he also served on the Federal Housing Administration Mortgagee Review Board and Mortgage Risk Review Council.
Before Paul’s service at HUD he was a partner and member of the managing board of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP in its Birmingham office.
Paul is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and the University of Alabama. He attended the London School of Economics and Political Science and is a Truman Scholar.
Associate Director, Fair Housing & Community Development Project, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Thomas Silverstein is the Associate Director of the Fair Housing & Community Development Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. He oversees the Project’s impact litigation docket, using the Fair Housing Act to foster the development of inclusive communities, expand access to opportunity, and fight displacement. He also provides technical assistance to states, local governments, and public housing authorities seeking to comply with the duty to affirmatively further fair housing. He is a national leader in the provision of legal and policy support to grassroots housing justice organizers. He has written extensively on the intersection of civil rights law and land use law and frequently participates in conference panels and webinars addressing a range of topics in civil rights and housing law and policy.
Prior to serving as Associate Director, Thomas was Counsel in the Fair Housing & Community Development Project. He began his legal career as the Lawyers’ Committee’s 2013-2014 George N. Lindsay Civil Rights Legal Fellow after earning his juris doctorate from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2013.
Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center
Stanley Kurtz is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. On a wide range of issues, from K-12 and higher education reform, to the challenges of democratization abroad, to urban-suburban policies, to the shaping of the American left’s agenda, Mr. Kurtz is a key contributor to American public debates. Mr. Kurtz has written on these and other issues for various journals, particularly National Review Online (where he is a contributing editor).
Mr. Kurtz has published two influential books on President Obama’s political history and policy agenda: Radical-in-Chief: Barack Obama and the Untold Story of American Socialism (Threshold) and Spreading the Wealth: How Obama is Robbing the Suburbs to Pay for the Cities (Sentinel). He has also led the campaign to reform federal subsidies to academic programs of “area studies” under Title VI of the Higher Education Act.
Mr. Kurtz received his undergraduate degree from Haverford College and his Ph.D. in social anthropology from Harvard University. He later taught at Harvard, winning several teaching awards for his work in a Great Books Program. He was also Dewey Prize Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Chicago.
Partner, Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP
Peter focuses his legal practice on representing management in employment-related litigation and in contract negotiations, NLRB proceedings, EEO matters and arbitration.
Peter Kirsanow is a partner with Benesch’s Labor & Employment Practice Group. He returned to Benesch in January 2008 after serving as a presidential appointee to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington D.C. for two years. While serving on the NLRB, he was involved with significant decisions including Oakwood Healthcare, Inc., Dana/Metaldyne and Oil Capital Sheet Metal, Inc. In addition, Peter testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the nominations of John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. He also continues to testify before and advise members of the U.S. Congress on employment law matters, most recently on November 18 before the House Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight regarding disparate impact theory.
Peter was recently reappointed by the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives to his fourth consecutive six-year term on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. This is a part-time position which will expire in December 2025.
Recently, Peter and a team of Benesch attorneys served as lead counsel to the National Association of Manufacturers in litigation before the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia against the NLRB, challenging the Board’s Notice of Employer Rights Posting Rule. The court ruled in favor of Benesch’s client, striking down the NLRB’s Rule in its entirety. This ruling impacts over 6,000,000 employers nationwide which would have been subject to the posting requirement.
Additionally, Peter is past chair of the board of directors of the Center for New Black Leadership and is a member of Benesch’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee. This committee helps ensure that the firm promotes an environment in which differences are respected, employees are treated fairly, and individual skills and talents are valued.
Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center
Stanley Kurtz is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. On a wide range of issues, from K-12 and higher education reform, to the challenges of democratization abroad, to urban-suburban policies, to the shaping of the American left’s agenda, Mr. Kurtz is a key contributor to American public debates. Mr. Kurtz has written on these and other issues for various journals, particularly National Review Online (where he is a contributing editor).
Mr. Kurtz has published two influential books on President Obama’s political history and policy agenda: Radical-in-Chief: Barack Obama and the Untold Story of American Socialism (Threshold) and Spreading the Wealth: How Obama is Robbing the Suburbs to Pay for the Cities (Sentinel). He has also led the campaign to reform federal subsidies to academic programs of “area studies” under Title VI of the Higher Education Act.
Mr. Kurtz received his undergraduate degree from Haverford College and his Ph.D. in social anthropology from Harvard University. He later taught at Harvard, winning several teaching awards for his work in a Great Books Program. He was also Dewey Prize Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Chicago.
The Evolution of HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rules: A Look at the Latest Proposed Regulation
Braden H. Boucek, Paul Compton, Thomas Silverstein
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rules have...
The Evolution of HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rules: A Look at the Latest Proposed Regulation
Braden H. Boucek, Paul Compton, Thomas Silverstein
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rules have...
The Evolution of HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rules: A Look at the Latest Proposed Regulation
A Regulatory Transparency Project Webinar
The AFFH Rider
Civil Rights Practice Group Teleforum
TeleforumTopics
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Report on Educational Equity - Commentary
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights recently released a report entitled, “Public Education Funding Inequity...
Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing - Podcast
Peter Kirsanow, Stanley Kurtz
In July of 2015, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced its...
Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing
TeleforumWill Proximity to the Rich Lift the Poor Out of Poverty?
Back in June the genius bureaucrats at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)...
The Kudzu of Civil Rights Law: Disparate Impact Spreads Into Educational “Resource Comparability”
Carissa Mulder
Note from the Editor: This article is about a Dear Colleague letter from the Department...