Bush destroys the Voting Rights Act

This effectively guts the Voting Rights Act by shutting out career Justice Department staff members and turning over major decisions to Bush cronies.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/09/AR2005120901894.html

Staff Opinions Banned In Voting Rights Cases
Criticism of Justice Dept.'s Rights Division Grows

By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer

The Justice Department has barred staff attorneys from offering recommendations in major Voting Rights Act cases, marking a significant change in the procedures meant to insulate such decisions from politics, congressional aides and current and former employees familiar with the issue said.

Disclosure of the change comes amid growing public criticism of Justice Department decisions to approve Republican-engineered plans in Texas and Georgia that were found to hurt minority voters by career staff attorneys who analyzed the plans. Political appointees overruled staff findings in both cases.

The policy was implemented in the Georgia case, said a Justice employee who, like others interviewed, spoke on condition of anonymity because of fears of retaliation. A staff memo urged rejecting the state's plan to require photo identification at the polls because it would harm black voters.

But under the new policy, the recommendation was stripped out of that document and was not forwarded to higher officials in the Civil Rights Division, several sources familiar with the incident said.

But so far all they have done publicly -- without risking dismissal -- is to boycott the department's Christmas party.

Bush DoJ Appointees Overruled their Own Voting Rights Act Attorneys to Approve Texas Redistricting Plan!

Unanimous Recommendation by 8 Staffers, Including Head of Voting Rights Division Ignored!
As With Georgia Photo ID Case, Bush Makes Mockery of Voting Rights Act, Ranking Democrat Calls for House Judiciary Committee Investigation

Washington Post, in a stunning front page splash today, is reporting that political appointees in George W. Bush's Dept. of Justice overruled their own attorneys in the Voting Rights Act unit who had recommended against Texas' state redistricting plan for Congressional districts. That new redistricting plan was key to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's (R-TX) controversial strategy in the state which eventually resulted in 7 additional Republicans being elected to the U.S. House in 2004.

Eight staffers at the DoJ, including the heads of the Voting Rights Division advocated against the redistricting in a 73-page memo, but Bush political appointees agreed to allow the changes to go through anyway! The Voting Rights Act requires DoJ pre-approval of changes to electoral law in several states where minority voting rights have historically been an issue.

The disturbing revelation is similar to one reported two weeks ago in which the Bush Attorney General overruled 4 of 5 staffers who had recommended against pre-approval of Georgia's new Photo ID requirement at the polls. That law has since been struck down by Federal Courts which described it as a "Jim Crow-era Poll Tax."

The Bush administration has made a mockery of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which celebrated it's 40th anniversary over the summer. Rep. John Conyers has now asked for a full investigation by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee...

Full Story, Link to Full Memo and the Complete Text of Conyers' Press Release:
http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002107.htm

the staff isn't even allowed to make a recommendation.

My apologies if it was inferred by my date inclusion in the posting head that I thought this 'old' or unworthy of posting. It was to provide background and a link to Conyer's notice.

Recommended & kick.

Seems to be several election shennanigans stories coming up right now-- plus a zeitgeist on DU re: election reform.

I know there is a dedicated Forum. Maybe post this in Research too?

:patriot:

* is an American tragedy

The press are pussies.

and so are we.

I'm a pussy, he's pussy, she's a pussy, The're a pussy, wouldn't you like to be a pussy too?

and not bother with an election?

Here we have activist political hacks acting to thwart the will of Congress when it passed the Voting Rights Act and prevent any action before it even can be heard by a judge.

Strict Constructionists my ass! The only thing strict is their narrow view of how the world must look and who will run it.