Civil & Human Rights

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Washington Post editorial board, which in no way can be mistaken for liberal, condemned North Carolina's "draconian" new voter suppression law today in a damning editorial opinion. North Carolina law takes war on voting rights to a new low:

IN THE wake of the Supreme Court’s
Shelby v. Holder
decision, which gutted significant portions
of the Voting Rights Act, it’s difficult to say which of the many
recently passed voter-suppression bills constitutes the greatest threat
to that most sacred of American freedoms: the right to vote. The contest
has several leading contenders, but the winner just might be North
Carolina’s especially draconian bill, signed into law on Monday.

The bill includes the usual provisions that have come to
characterize the quiet assault on the franchise: a shortened
early-voting period, the elimination of the state’s successful same-day
registration program and, of course, a strict photo identification
requirement despite any evidence of voter fraud in the state.

What makes this law unique is how much further it goes. It includes no fewer than 12 extra provisions
that prohibit such things as counties extending polling hours by one
hour in the event of unusual circumstances (such as, say, long lines);
provisional voting should someone, say, mistakenly go to the wrong
precinct; and pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds, who could
previously register to vote before they turned 18.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: We have an injunction issued by the court today, Pennsylvania Voter ID Law Barred From Enforcement In November Election By Judge: A state judge on Friday barred enforcement of Pennsylvania's strict voter-identification law in the Nov. 5 general election. The state also cannot require local elections officials to verbally tell voters at … Read more

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a forceful and impassioned defense of
the Voting Rights Act on Monday, condemning laws and other moves in
some states that she said are reviving “old demons of discrimination.” Clinton
defends Voting Rights Act:

“Anyone that says that racial discrimination is no longer a problem in
American elections must not be paying attention,” said Clinton.

Clinton’s address to the American Bar Association’s annual meeting in
San Francisco was the first in what she said will be a series of major
addresses this fall about the challenges undermining Americans’ faith in
government.

“We do — let’s admit it — have a long history of
shutting people out: African Americans, women, gays and lesbians, people
with disabilities,” she said. “And throughout our history, we have
found too many ways to divide and exclude people from their ownership of
the law and protection from the law.”

Clinton criticized the
Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down Section 4 of the Voting
Rights Act, urging Congress to reconsider the 1965 landmark law and
calling on citizen activists to mobilize in their communities.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Republican Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina on Monday signed into law "the single worst voter
suppression law in the country."

Ari Berman of The Nation reported the new state law imposes voter-ID restrictions never needed before in
North Carolina, narrows the early-voting window, places new restrictions
on voter-registration drives, makes it harder for students to vote,
ends same-day voter registration during the early voting period, and makes it
easier for vigilante poll-watchers [i.e., the Tea Party's True The Vote] to challenge eligible voters. North Carolina Republicans Push Extreme Voter Suppression Measures.

The new law was immediately met with legal challenges in federal court questioning its constitutionality. Lawsuits filed after Gov. Pat McCrory signs voter ID bill:

Just hours after McCrory signed the bill, two separate lawsuits
challenging the law were filed in federal court in Greensboro. A third
lawsuit is expected to be filed in state court Tuesday. Congressman G.K.
Butterfield also asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to “take swift
and decisive action by using any legal mechanisms” to protect North
Carolina’s voting rights.

“With one stroke of the pen, McCrory has
effectively reversed 30 years of progress and reinstated practices
similar to the discriminatory ‘Southern Strategy’ adopted by the
Republican Party in the ’60s and ’70s,” said Butterfield, a former N.C.
Supreme Court justice. “Without question, today is a shameful day for
Republicans in North Carolina.”

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

If you do a Google search for Texas + secession, you will be shocked at the number of hits (or maybe not).

The question is not whether Texas can secede — it can't — but rather can the rest of America kick Texas out of the Union for ignorant racist crap like this?

Adam Serwer reports, Texas on voting rights: It's not about race, just politics:

Texas didn’t discriminate against minority voters. It was only
because they were Democrats. And even if it did, the racial
discrimination Texas engaged in is nowhere near as bad as the stuff that
happened in the 1960s.

These are some of the arguments the state of Texas is making in an
attempt to stave off federal supervision of its election laws.

* * *

Shortly after the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act decision, Texas moved to reinstate restrictive voting laws
that had previously been blocked by the feds. As far as it’s 2011
redistricting plan goes, the state’s brief argues that’s all in the
past, and it was a partisan issue rather than a racial one anyway.