Civil & Human Rights

(Update) The GOP war on voting in the D.C. Circuit Court

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The trial has wrapped up with closing argments on Friday morning. Based upon this reporting from the Dallas Morning News, it isn't looking good for the state of Texas — the judges appear inclined to uphold the voting rights of minority voters under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Texas Voter ID Trial: Closing Arguments:

A 3-judge panel will now decide whether to let Texas implement its controversial voter ID law.

In closing arguments at federal court, a lawyer for the state, John Hughes, insisted that even if non-white Texans lack an acceptable photo ID under the law, the “ultimate question” for the judges to consider is whether that disparity translates into people being turned away from the polls.

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“People who want to vote already have an ID or can easily obtain it,” he insisted repeatedly. He noted that the Justice Department – which refused to let the state implement the law, prompting the state to turn to the federal courts – claims that 1.5 million Texas voters lack an acceptable photo ID.

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The judges seemed deeply skeptical. “The record does tell us that there is a substantial number of registered voters that lack photo ID,” said U.S. Circuit Court Judge David Tatel.

And District Court Judge Robert Wilkins noted that there was uncontested evidence that some Texans would have to travel 120 miles one way to the nearest state office where they could obtain a voter ID card – and that federal court rules bar subpoenas for anyone more than 100 miles from a courthouse on grounds that would be “unduly burdensome.”

Team Obama addresses the NAACP Convention

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

What a difference a day makes. A day after Willard "Mittens" Romney insulted the NAACP Convention and used them as a photo-op stage prop to rally the "white, old, fat" people of FAUX Nation, Team Obama addressed the organization with respect and to raucus applause. Videos below the fold.

Romney insults the NAACP Convention, gets lustily booed

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Daily Star today published a condensed version of this McCaltchy News report by Maeve Reston of the Los Angeles Times on Willard "Mittens " Romney's speech to the NAACP Convention on Wednesday. Romney's speech to NAACP draws boos from audience. I was struck by a key passage in Reston's reporting:

But murmurs of disagreement ran through crowd when he argued that his policies would help "families of any color more than the policies and leadership of President Obama." And he was met with loud boos when he said he would reduce spending in part by eliminating "expensive, nonessential programs" and repealing the health care law. For 15 seconds, Romney stood quietly, smiling at the audience as they voiced their disapproval.

Here is how another McClatchy News report by William Douglas and David Lightman of McClatchy News accurately reported this key moment in Romney's speech. As Romney courts NAACP, audience boos vow to repeal health law:

The overwhelmingly Democratic group roundly booed him, however, when he declared that he'd repeal the health care law.

"I'm going to eliminate every nonessential, expensive program I can find; that includes Obamacare," Romney said to a long chorus of jeers. A woman in the back of the hall shouted, "You mean Romneycare?"

The Arizona Republic published an AP report by Kasie Hunt that also accurately reported this key moment in Romney's speech. Romney makes NAACP economy pitch, is booed:

[Romney]was booed when he promised to get rid of the Obama administration's health care overhaul.

"I will kill every expensive and unnecessary program I can find, and that includes Obamacare," Romney said, then waited and smiled through the crowd's disapproval.

So it was Arizona Daily Star readers who were treated to the "softened" reporting by Maeve Reston of the Los Angeles Times. A reader who did not see this moment of the speech (video below the fold) would not understand why the NAACP was booing Romney.

Joe Biden at the National Conference of La Raza

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

For the past few days, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) held its annual conference featuring workshops, townhalls, and networking events for the Latino community. This year’s gathering in Las Vegas provided the presidential campaigns with another opportunity to address a captive audience of Latino leaders. Biden at La Raza: Mitt Wants You to Show Your Papers But He Won't Show Us His:

[Y]esterday, Vice President Biden represented President Obama at NCLR and highlighted the differences between the President and his opponent. Biden talked about how Romney wants to maintain the Bush tax cuts, how Romney supports a budget that cuts Head Start and restricts Medicaid, and how Romney casts the President as being out of touch.

Vice President Biden then threw a zinger when he addressed Governor Romney’s failure to release multiple years of his tax returns, which is something that the presumptive GOP nominee’s father had done during his pursuit of the presidency. Biden said, “He wants you to show your papers, but he won’t show us his,” in reference to Romney’s support of the Arizona immigration law while refusing to release his own tax returns.

Check out the clip of Biden at NCLR below the fold:

The GOP war on voting in the D.C. Circuit Court

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

On Monday, a panel of federal Judges on the D.C. Circuit Court began trial of the case of the U.S. Department of Justice challenge to the Texas voter photo ID requirement. POLITICO reports Texas voter ID trial opens:

The case, which could make its way to the Supreme Court, is the first major federal court showdown in this election cycle over a series of laws Republican-controlled state legislatures have approved that require voters to show photo identification at the polls.

In March, the Justice Department Civil Rights Division refused to clear the Texas law, known as Senate Bill 14, saying Texas officials had failed to prove that it wouldn’t adversely affect minorities.

As the trial got under way in a packed courtroom, DOJ trial attorney Elizabeth Westfall went even further, arguing that the federal government will show racial motivation in Texas’s passage of the law.

“The facts will convincingly demonstrate the discriminatory purpose and effect of Senate Bill 14,” Westfall told the three-judge panel in her brief opening argument in a trial expected to last through Friday.

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The law, signed by Republican Gov. Rick Perry in May 2011, requires nearly all voters to show photo ID when voting in person. Most forms of state-issued photo ID, including driver’s licenses and firearms permits, are accepted. However, student IDs from Texas state universities are not.

Last year, South Carolina passed a similar law, which the Justice Department also rejected. South Carolina has also filed suit, but that case has yet to come to trial.

Under federal law, lawsuits seeking so-called “pre-clearance” of changes to voting procedures in all of seven mostly Southern states and parts of nine others, are heard by three-judge panels composed of two district court judges and an appeals court judge. D.C. Circuit Judge David Tatel and District Court Judges Rosemary Collyer and Robert Wilkins were selected to hear the Texas voter ID case.