Eric Holder Alert: Inquiry after DOJ dropped voter intimidation complaints about Black Panthers

The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility has begun an inquiry into the dismissal in May of a civil complaint against the New Black Panther Party and two of its members who disrupted a Philadelphia polling place during last year's presidential elections.

The inquiry was disclosed in an Aug. 28 letter to Rep. Lamar Smith, ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee who first raised questions about the case's dismissal and asked Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., to make available the head of the department's Voting Section for a closed-door briefing about the decision.

In the letter, Mary Patrice Brown, acting counsel, told the Texas congressman that the Office of Professional Responsibility had "initiated an inquiry into the matter" and would "contact you with the results of our inquiry once it is completed." A copy of the letter was obtained by The Washington Times.

"I am pleased that someone at the Justice Department is finally taking the dismissal of the New Black Panther Party case seriously," Mr. Smith said Wednesday. "The Justice Departments decision to drop a case against political allies who allegedly intimidated voters on Election Day 2008 reeks of political interference."

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."

"Voter intimidation threatens democracy," he added. "These cases must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law without political considerations. I look forward to seeing the results of the Departments investigation."

In January, the Justice Department filed a civil complaint in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia against the New Black Panther Party after two of its members in black berets, black combat boots, black shirts and black jackets with military insignias purportedly intimidated voters with racial insults, slurs and a nightstick. A third party member was accused of managing, directing and endorsing their behavior.

The complaint said two NBPP members engaged in "coercion, threats and intimidation . . . racial threats and insults . . . menacing and intimidating gestures . . . and movements directed at individuals who were present to vote."

The case gained national attention when it was captured on videotape and distributed on YouTube.

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