Progressive Minds

The Washington Post reports that many former and current lawyers in the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, say that senior officials have politicized the Division, and in particular the Voting Rights Section.

They say that these politicos have welded unusual influence in some of the highly charged issues that have come before them, such as Tom Delay's Texas redistricting scheme.  They also point out that many of the voting-rights decisions made by DOJ over the past five years (read: on BushCo's watch), have been beneficial to the Republican Party.

Also at issue is the fact that career lawyers in the Department, disapproved of Georgia's new voter ID law, saying it would hurt Black voters.  In a highly unusual move, the politicos at DOJ overruled the career appointees, and approved Georgia's voter ID law.

Because of the turmoil, the Voting Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division has lost approximately a third of its three dozen lawyers over the past nine months.  The remaining staff have not been allowed to offer their recommendations in the major voting rights cases that have come before them, and have little input on hiring and policy decisions.

Joe Rich, who used to head the Voting Rights Section, said recently: "If the Department of Justice and the Civil Rights Division is viewed as political, there is no doubt that credibility is lost."

Politics Alleged In Voting Cases