Under a law going back to the period immediately after the Civil War, the government has long been the court of last resort in these kinds of cases. The statute makes it a crime to deprive any person of their rights "under color of law." Justice Department data going back for more than 25 years show that the high proportion of declined cases under this law has existed in every administration. In addition to national data, TRAC's report also provides information about how each US Attorney's office in the country has dealt with these sensitive cases in the last few years.