Chief Justice Roberts and his cohorts are inexorably weakening the Voting Rights Act through one subtle ruling at a time.
Congress must hold hearings now, to prevent the states from gerrymandering voters black and brown into irrelevance. (While they're at it, Congress also ought to take a good hard look at both the electronic systems used for voting and vote-counting nationwide, and the private companies that manufacture and maintain them. (That problem, you may note below, is not on the agenda here--the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights, like all the other major civil rights organizations, having long refrained from paying due attention [or any at all] to the ever-growing menace of election fraud. (So let us join with the Committee in this plea to Congress--and let us also plead with the Committee, urging them to take a broader view of all the measures lately used to disenfranchise minority voters.) MCM Dear Mark, Earlier this year the Supreme Court narrowed a vital protection against racial gerrymandering. So far the response to our petition to Congress has been overwhelming. Will you join us? <http://action.lawyerscommittee.org/page/s/section2>Click here to urge Congress to hold hearings on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and protect minorities during redistricting. We need to act now to prevent states from diminishing the power of minority voters to effect change during the next round of redistricting, but I need your help. Please sign our petition to Congress today! Earlier this year, the Supreme Court severely narrowed a vital voter protection - Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Section 2 prevents states from diluting the strength of minority voters through gerrymandered voting districts. Because of the Court's ruling, districts across the country that have been electing minorities for decades could be in danger. <http://action.lawyerscommittee.org/page/s/section2>Click here to urge Congress to hold hearings on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and protect minorities during redistricting. Election Protection leader - the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law - is urging Congress to ensure Section 2 will continue to advance the cause of voting equality. Last week I sent out an urgent email to Election Protection's supporters and volunteers asking them to sign the petition, and the response was overwhelming. Will you join them? <http://action.lawyerscommittee.org/page/s/section2>Click here to urge Congress to hold hearings on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and protect minorities during redistricting. Thanks to the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1965 minorities that do not make up 50% of the electorate are sometimes joined by like-minded white voters to elect minorities to office - a true sign of racial progress. Now the Supreme Court has removed Section 2's protection of these districts and opened them up to racial gerrymandering. Congress must correct the Court's error before states redistrict their state legislative and Congressional districts after the 2010 Census. Thank you, Jon Greenbaum Election Protection Leader Legal Director, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law <http://www.nationalcampaignforfairelections.org/page/m2/4b660ab7/1ba9d69c/8710f37/410d01b/132166356/VEsC/>P.S. The Lawyers' Committee will continue to fight discrimination in all forms across this nation. To keep up to date and find out how you can help further the cause of justice, please click here to sign up for the Lawyers' Committee email list. <http://www.nationalcampaignforfairelections.org/page/m2/4b660ab7/1ba9d69c/8710f37/410d01c/132166356/VEsD/>Support the National Campaign for Fair Elections - donate today! This email was sent to: mark.mil...@nyu.edu <http://www.nationalcampaignforfairelections.org/page/m2/4b660ab7/1ba9d69c/8710f37/410d01d/132166356/VEsA/>Click here to unsubscribe. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to newsfromunderground-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com OR go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
