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Nixing of Panthers complaint starts probe
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* Nixing of Panthers complaint starts probe
<http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/20/nixing-of-panthers-complaint-starts-probe/>
By Jerry Seper <http://www.washingtontimes.com/staff/jerry-seper/>
Two senior House Republicans want the Justice Department to make public
any reports or statements given to internal investigators by the career
department lawyers who brought a civil complaint against the New Black
Panther Party (NBPP) that later was dismissed by President Obama's
political appointees.
Reps. Lamar Smith of Texas, ranking member of the House Judiciary
Committee, and Frank R. Wolf of Virginia, a senior member of the House
Appropriations Committee, said the "American people deserve a full
accounting" of what they called the "incomprehensible dismissal" of a
complaint charging the NBPP and three of its members with voter
intimidation at a Philadelphia polling place during the November 2008
presidential elections.
The demand is contained in a Nov. 16 letter to Attorney General Eric H.
Holder Jr., referring to an ongoing inquiry in the matter by the Justice
Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), which
investigates accusations of misconduct involving department lawyers.
Mary Patrice Brown, acting OPR counsel, confirmed in August that her
office had "initiated an inquiry into the matter," although no
information about the probe has been released since.
It was not clear Thursday whether any of the career lawyers had yet been
interviewed or whether they had made any statements or given any reports
on the case to OPR officials, but Mr. Wolf on Thursday said his office
would continue to seek information on why the case was dismissed.
"We're not going to let this go," he said.
Since May, Mr. Smith and Mr. Wolf have sought unsuccessfully to get Mr.
Holder to make available for a closed-door meeting the career lawyers
who brought the complaint, including Christopher Coates, the chief of
the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division who signed off on it.
Mr. Smith said the department's refusal to provide Congress with an
explanation for the dismissal "only further raises concerns that
political favoritism played a role in this case." He said voter
intimidation "threatens democracy," adding that violators "must be
prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law without political
considerations."
Mr. Wolf said Mr. Holder is obligated to refile the case, adding that an
opinion he obtained from the Congressional Research Service found that
charges could legally be refiled without violating the double-jeopardy
clause of the U.S. Constitution.
"In all fairness, he has a duty to protect those seeking to vote and I
remain deeply troubled by this questionable dismissal of an important
voter-intimidation case in Philadelphia," he said. "This stinks to high
heaven."
In January, the Voting Section filed a civil complaint against the NBPP
in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, claiming two of its members in
black berets, black combat boots, black shirts and black jackets with
military insignias intimidated voters with racial insults, slurs and a
nightstick. A third party member was accused of directing and endorsing
their behavior.
The complaint said that unless that type of conduct was prohibited by
court sanctions, the NBPP would continue to intimidate, threaten and
coerce voters and potential voters "by again deploying uniformed and
armed members at the entrance to polling locations in future elections,
both in Philadelphia and throughout the country."
The original incident was captured on videotape and gained national
attention after the video was distributed on YouTube.
Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said the Smith-Wolf letter
was being reviewed.
"As a general policy, we don't comment on ongoing OPR matters," she said.
The Washington Times first reported the decision to dismiss the
complaint in May, later noting that Associate Attorney General Thomas J.
Perrelli, the department's No. 3 political appointee, approved it even
after the government had won judgments against the NBPP and its members.
A Justice Department memo shows that the career lawyers who brought the
case had decided as early as December to seek a complaint against the
party; its chairman, Malik Zulu Shabazz, a lawyer and D.C. resident;
Minister King Samir Shabazz, head of the Philadelphia chapter who was
accused of wielding the nightstick; and Jerry Jackson, a Philadelphia
party member.
Witnesses said Mr. Samir Shabazz and Mr. Jackson used racial slurs and
made threats as they stood outside the polling place door.
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