Are criminal background checks racist? That's the startling new legal theory that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission unveiled this week in lawsuits against employers. It's another example of how President Obama's appointees are using regulation to achieve policy goals they can't get through Congress.

On Tuesday the EEOC accused retailer Dollar General and a U.S. unit of German car maker BMW of violating the 1964 Civil Rights Act by using criminal checks as part of their employment decisions. The logic? Blacks have...