-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: March 29, 2007 8:13:45 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Justice Dept's Secret Agenda: "Fix" the Vote Nationwide,
Not Just Florida 2000
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-
rich29mar29,0,3371050.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail
Bush's long history of tilting Justice
The administration began skewing federal law enforcement long
before the current U.S. attorney scandal, says a former Department
of Justice lawyer.
By Joseph D. Rich
JOSEPH D. RICH was chief of the voting section in the Justice
Department's civil right division from 1999 to 2005. He now works
for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
LA Times, March 29, 2007
THE SCANDAL unfolding around the firing of eight U.S. attorneys
compels the conclusion that the Bush administration has rewarded
loyalty over all else. A destructive pattern of partisan political
actions at the Justice Department started long before this
incident, however, as those of us who worked in its civil rights
division can attest.
I spent more than 35 years in the department enforcing federal
civil rights laws — particularly voting rights. Before leaving in
2005, I worked for attorneys general with dramatically different
political philosophies — from John Mitchell to Ed Meese to Janet
Reno. Regardless of the administration, the political appointees
had respect for the experience and judgment of longtime civil
servants.
Under the Bush administration, however, all that changed. Over the
last six years, this Justice Department has ignored the advice of
its staff and skewed aspects of law enforcement in ways that
clearly were intended to influence the outcome of elections.
It has notably shirked its legal responsibility to protect voting
rights. From 2001 to 2006, no voting discrimination cases were
brought on behalf of African American or Native American voters.
U.S. attorneys were told instead to give priority to voter fraud
cases, which, when coupled with the strong support for voter ID
laws, indicated an intent to depress voter turnout in minority and
poor communities.
At least two of the recently fired U.S. attorneys, John McKay in
Seattle and David C. Iglesias in New Mexico, were targeted largely
because they refused to prosecute voting fraud cases that
implicated Democrats or voters likely to vote for Democrats.
This pattern also extended to hiring. In March 2006, Bradley
Schlozman was appointed interim U.S. attorney in Kansas City, Mo.
Two weeks earlier, the administration was granted the authority to
make such indefinite appointments without Senate confirmation. That
was too bad: A Senate hearing might have uncovered Schlozman's
central role in politicizing the civil rights division during his
three-year tenure.
Schlozman, for instance, was part of the team of political
appointees that approved then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's
plan to redraw congressional districts in Texas, which in 2004
increased the number of Republicans elected to the House.
Similarly, Schlozman was acting assistant attorney general in
charge of the division when the Justice Department OKd a Georgia
law requiring voters to show photo IDs at the polls. These
decisions went against the recommendations of career staff, who
asserted that such rulings discriminated against minority voters.
The warnings were prescient: Both proposals were struck down by
federal courts.
Schlozman continued to influence elections as an interim U.S.
attorney. Missouri had one of the closest Senate races in the
country last November, and a week before the election, Schlozman
brought four voter fraud indictments against members of an
organization representing poor and minority people. This blatantly
contradicted the department's long-standing policy to wait until
after an election to bring such indictments because a federal
criminal investigation might affect the outcome of the vote. The
timing of the Missouri indictments could not have made the
administration's aims more transparent.
This administration is also politicizing the career staff of the
Justice Department. Outright hostility to career employees who
disagreed with the political appointees was evident early on. Seven
career managers were removed in the civil rights division. I
personally was ordered to change performance evaluations of several
attorneys under my supervision. I was told to include critical
comments about those whose recommendations ran counter to the
political will of the administration and to improve evaluations of
those who were politically favored.
Morale plummeted, resulting in an alarming exodus of career
attorneys. In the last two years, 55% to 60% of attorneys in the
voting section have transferred to other departments or left the
Justice Department entirely.
At the same time, career staff were nearly cut out of the process
of hiring lawyers. Control of hiring went to political appointees,
so an applicant's fidelity to GOP interests replaced civil rights
experience as the most important factor in hiring decisions.
For decades prior to this administration, the Justice Department
had successfully kept politics out of its law enforcement
decisions. Hopefully, the spotlight on this misconduct will begin
the process of restoring dignity and nonpartisanship to federal law
enforcement.
As the 2008 elections approach, it is critical to have a Justice
Department that approaches its responsibility to all eligible
voters without favor.
See what's free at AOL.com.
www.ctrl.org
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/
<A HREF="http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/">ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om