Vacancy in Civil-Rights Post Irks Activists Justice Officials Rebut Claims That Unfilled Position Hurts Cause

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THE LACK of a civil-rights chief at the Justice Department, 11 months after President Clinton took office, has hampered efforts to fight discrimination against women and minorities during the administration's first year, civil-rights activists say.

Officials at the department, from Attorney General Janet Reno on down, contend that they have been able to compensate for the White House's failure to fill the post of assistant attorney general for civil rights.

Reno and Associate Attorney General Webster Hubbell have assumed some responsibilities of the civil-rights chief.

And they say the acting civil-rights chief, James P. Turner, has welcomed Clinton's and …