In this speech, delivered by the Solicitor General of the United States at a meeting of the Hillsboro County Bar Association in Tampa, Florida, Lee addresses himself to allegations of inconsistency in the Reagan administration's positions on court cases involving civil rights issues. In defending the administration, Lee cites the Spirt v. TIAA-CREF and Hishon v. King and Spalding court cases. Both cases fall under the Title VII statute which prohibits employment discrimination. In the Spirt case, the issue in question was the payment of lower monthly pension annuity benefits to women than to men. The Hishon case regards law firms that discriminate against women in promotion from associates to partners. In both cases, the government argued that the Title VII principle requires that an individual be treated as an individual, rather than as an undifferentiated member of a group. Lee says that the same argument holds for the administration's position on employment quotas or the use of busing in school desegregation, since both are group oriented solutions. Lee asserts that the cornerstone of civil rights laws and public policy has been the securing of individual rights. Therefore, he concludes, consistency in civil rights cases should be measured by attempts to protect individual rights. (AOS)