Johnathan Smith

Johnathan Smith rejoined the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice in July 2021 as Deputy Assistant Attorney General. Johnathan previously served in the Civil Rights Division as Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General from October 2014 to January 2017.

Immediately prior to the Civil Rights Division, Johnathan served in the administration of New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo from January 2019 to July 2021. During his tenure in New York State government, Johnathan served as the Governor’s Deputy Secretary for Civil Rights and Workforce and as the Interim Commissioner for the New York State Division of Human Rights.  

He has also worked as the legal director at Muslim Advocates, a staff attorney at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and a litigation associate at Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP. Johnathan started his legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Carl E. Stewart of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  

Johnathan has also served as a lecturer at the University of Michigan Law School. Johnathan is a graduate from Harvard College, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and NYU School of Law.